


The Huntress and the Deputy

by bren97122



Series: The Huntress and the Deputy Universe [1]
Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Falling In Love, Mild Sexual Content, Romance, Some Drama and Action, Sweet Romantic Stuff, romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-04-30 08:34:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 92,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14493027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bren97122/pseuds/bren97122
Summary: Set after (an alternate take on) the Resist ending.Jess Black is the kind of woman who feels the less attachments, the better. She met Deputy Morgan Rook by chance, a man who comes to consider Jess more than just a valued ally. Jess sees life as little more than day by day survival. But there is more to life than just survival.(Jess/Deputy)





	1. Apocalypse Not

**Author's Note:**

> This story goes off my personal headcanon that the annihilation of Hope County following the Resist ending was a Bliss-induced hallucination. I really do not like either ending of what is all in all an amazing game. I hope you enjoy!

There was fire in the sky.

The ground itself was buckling.

He looked up to see the trees going up like matchsticks, all while feeling the heat of a million suns on his skin.

The entire time, all he could think was-

_Seed was right. He was fuckin' right._

Then, there was an impact. He swam in and out of consciousness. There was the feeling of movement. More blackness.

When he finally awoke, he was looking into the face of a man who had lost much, but in end, had won.

Joseph Seed stared down at Deputy Morgan Rook with a look on his face that showed that even though his family was dead, his organization in ruins, he was happy. Happy because…

He was right.

* * *

"Rook!"

"Hey, Rook!"

"Deputy? Deputy, you hear me?"

"Morgan!"

There was a curious whimper from one of the onlookers, who promptly trotted over and joined the crowd attempting to rouse Deputy Morgan Rook. Boomer decided to contribute a few licks to the face of his master, which proved to be enough.

Morgan opened his eyes, staring at the throng of concerned faces staring down at him.

Sheriff Earl Whitehorse shook his head. "Goddamn, son, you alright? You had me worried there."

Morgan blinked rapidly.

"What- what happened?"

He met the eyes of the one person who had been covering his back these past few weeks. Someone he had grown to trust as they took on the forces of Eden's Gate during the fight to take back their home.

Jess Black.

The master huntress was silent and her face remained void of any emotion. For the most part. Morgan's green eyes met her own ocean blue eyes. They were filled with a genuine concern, the kind he had seen few times before. Each time he had seen her eyes like that, it was when he was down for the count and when Morgan felt he was not long for this world. Or when she and other resistance members found him stumbling through the woods after one of his "talks" with Faith or Jacob.

She wore her usual stoic frown, but she was concerned. Scared, maybe. Although Morgan knew there were few things in the world Jess Black feared. Was him dying one of them? That was quite the thought.

"Here, Dep," Nick Rye said as he and Whitehorse grabbed Morgan by the arms and helped him sit up.

"You were mumbling about Dutch and… nukes? Of all things to be worried about," Whitehorse said, somewhat bewildered at his deputy's drug induced ramblings.

"Yeah. Joseph hit you with the Bliss before the sheriff could make the arrest. You missed us taking that fucker down," Mary May Fairgrave added with a chuckle.

Morgan missed most of Mary's statement. His mind was still hazy, until he heard the name of Joseph Seed.

"Seed! Where is he?" he asked frantically as he pushed away from Nick and Whitehorse and got to his feet.

"Right over there," Whitehorse replied, jerking his head towards the shirtless form of the cult leader on his knees, who was being watched by Deputy Hudson, Pastor Jerome Jeffries, and Grace Armstrong.

Jess came over to Morgan and steadied the deputy, who was wobbling on his feet.

"You alright?" she asked, obviously trying to keep her cool. Her voice was wavering as she spoke, indictive of someone trying to keep it together. The last time her voice sounded like that, she was running towards Morgan after he was almost crushed by the burning hulk of a Chosen airplane.

"I'm fine," Morgan told her, although he was not sure himself. He put a hand on her shoulder, partially to steady himself and partially to give his friend and companion a reassuring squeeze.

The rest of the crew stood in front of the Father. He was looking at the ground, hands handcuffed behind his back, and was sobbing. The usually eerily calm and even toned prophet looked completely out of character as a combination of tears, blood and snot rolled down his face. He was alternating between mumbling and shouting to no one in particular. Or maybe he was trying to shout at God.

"It's not fair. It's just not fair…" Seed muttered between sobs. "I was chosen. God showed me the future. What was coming."

"He's just sad his prophesized Collapse turned out to be a load of shit," Grace said with a smirk.

Seed ranted on, ignoring his captors and in utter disbelief that he was indeed wrong.

"They died for nothing!" he went on, louder now. "My family. They sacrificed themselves.  _I_ sacrificed  _everything_! It wasn't supposed to end like this!"

"Oh, shut the fuck up already!" Jess growled before delivering a swift kick to the ranting prophet's crotch. The man grunted in pain and doubled over, falling on his side and assuming a fetal position as he groaned on the ground.

"Is Dutch okay?" Morgan asked anyone who would reply. He was still having trouble figuring out what was real and what was a Bliss-induced nightmare.

Whitehorse took off the handheld radio at his hip. "Hey, Dutch, you there?"

The radio buzzed after a second or two. " _I'm here, sheriff. You take that asshole down yet?_ "

"We got him, Dutch. Get your HAM working. I'll be there soon to let the feds know," Whitehorse spoke into his radio.

" _You got it, Earl. Dutch out._ "

Whitehorse turned back to Morgan. "Dutch is fine, son."

Morgan let out a sigh of relief. The last of the Bliss was leaving his system and he was able to begin putting it all together.

"Oh, good. When Joseph hit me with the Bliss… I saw things. A bomb went off! A nuke! I saw it in the mountains. And- and we all drove to Dutch's bunker and the car crashed and-" Morgan began listing off what he had seen, coming out as disjointed as the whole experience was to him.

"Whoa! Slow down there!" Whitehorse started, putting up his hands to slow down his raving deputy. "What matters is what you saw wasn't real. We got him. It's over."

Morgan took his words and tried to comprehend them all one by one.

"Hey," Jess began, putting a hand on Morgan's shoulder, "the sheriff's right. It's done."

"For real?"

"Yeah. For real," Jess said.

She smiled at Morgan. There were few reasons she smiled. Whenever she did, it had to be for a damn good reason.

At that point, Morgan knew everything was okay. They had indeed won.

Joseph Seed turned out to be wrong after all.

* * *

On the main street of the tiny town of Fall's End, Morgan and his allies stood in front of the Spread Eagle, watching as a pair of FBI agents shoved a blank faced Joseph into the back of an armored SUV. The sun was setting and the red and blue lights of the FBI vehicles washed over the faces of the onlookers.

"Think we'll be called to be witnesses?" Mary asked her friends.

Hudson shrugged. "I'd rather not be. This trial is gonna be a fucking circus."

"Well, the feds are probably going to be focused on cleaning up this place first. I think Joseph won't be seeing a court room for a while," Whitehorse mused.

One of the FBI agents walked on over to Whitehorse, nodding quickly as the sheriff nodded back.

"Well, sheriff…"

"It's okay. We didn't need your help or anything," Hudson snapped at the FBI man.

Whitehorse held up a placating hand. "Thanks for taking Seed off our hands, Agent…?"

"Hanson," the FBI agent finished.

"Agent Hanson. I understand the National Guard will be helping with cleaning up the rest of the, uh, insurgent elements still in the county?"

Agent Hanson nodded. "Correct, sheriff. But I understand the people of this county have been holding their own."

Whitehorse nodded. "Indeed."

"Hell of a thing. Well, if you folks could keep doing more of 'holding your own,' that would be helpful. The government is pretty tied up at the moment with the Russia incident."

Morgan stepped forward. "Wait… I heard on the radio Moscow was nuked. Is that true?"

Hanson shook his head. "Nah. At first, we thought it was nuclear. But that was just rumors and bad intelligence. No, some terrorist faction snuck several large bombs into the city and detonated them. Massive damage. Not nuclear, though."

With this new revelation, Morgan nodded, looking off at the distance. It made sense. Most of it.

Bliss was a hell of a drug.

"Huh," Morgan managed.

Hanson gave a quick nod. "Alright, then. I'll leave you folks to it. Sheriff, I'll be in touch."

Whitehorse returned with a brief nod. Hanson turned and headed back to the lead SUV of the FBI convoy without a glance back at the locals. With their lights flashing, the four FBI vehicles peeled down Main Street, presumably on their way to Missoula International Airport, where Joseph would be flown to the nearest FBI field office in Salt Lake City.

The key players of the Hope County Resistance forces watched in silence as the man they had fought so hard against disappeared over the horizon, hopefully out of their lives forever. Despite what should have felt like a great victory, the survivors of the war against Eden's Gate felt almost… hollow. It was difficult to describe. None of them commented on it until Mary May turned back to her watering hole, waving her friends forward.

"Come on, folks, what are we all still doing out here? Let's celebrate! Enough of this doom and gloom shit. I've had enough of that for a lifetime!" she told them.

The group relaxed, breaking a tension that was silently hanging in the air. She was right. The war was over and the Seed family and their Project would be a distant memory. It was time to truly relax for the first time in a very long time.

* * *

"And there he is- the man of the hour! Hell, man of the fucking century!" Nick announced from his spot at the bar as Morgan walked in.

The numerous townsfolk and other Hope County residents packed into the humble bar broke out into cheers and applause, all focused on Morgan. He responded by looking to the ground and awkwardly smiling. Morgan was not used to being the center of attention.

He was practically assaulted by handshakes, claps on the back, high fives, and fist bumps. Several people spoke to him at once.

"Damn proud of you, rookie," Whitehorse said with a hint of sarcasm towards using the "rookie" moniker.

"You know, I've been lying this whole time. You're a hell of a shot, Rook," Grace told him as he moved past her.

Kim Rye came over, carrying baby Nicole Rye in a basket. She leaned over and kissed Morgan on the cheek.

"Thanks for everything, Morgan," she said. Kim looked down at her infant daughter.

"Say 'thank you' to your godfather, Nikki," she cooed at Nicole. The baby Rye giggled and held out a hand at Morgan. The deputy could not help but smile and let the young girl grip his index finger as she laughed in the way babies do when they are entertained.

"Eli was right about you. And he would've been proud," Tammy Barnes of the Whitetail Militia said to Morgan. He felt regret well up inside him at her comment.

His feelings were interrupted by Hurk Drubman Senior, who clapped Morgan on the shoulder and grabbed his right hand, which he vigorously shook.

"You're a true goddamn American, Deputy Rook," the gruff Senate hopeful told him. He appeared to be on the verge of tears of joy. Hurk Drubman Junior pushed past the others around him and wrapped Morgan in a crushing bear hug.

"Deputy! You are fucking  _awesome_ , man!" Hurk Junior chattered excitedly. "Man, I'm telling you. Blowing up Peggies with you was a once in a lifetime experience! Even more awesome than all the shit I did in the Rook Islands- you ever been there? It's named after you, man! Anyway, cooler than all the shit I did down there, cooler than all the shit I did in Kyrat, and I'm telling you, dude, I did some cool shit over there!"

Morgan excised himself from Hurk's bro-hug.

"Yeah, Hurk, it was, uh, memorable…"

Hurk went on. "Look, man, I'm getting a new tattoo right here on my chest. It's gonna be dedicated to you, alright? I'm already tat bros with Jack, Jason, and Ajay, but you're gonna be my new favorite, man, I'm telling you…"

Pastor Jeffries gently, but firmly, pushed the excited Hurk away. The pastor led Morgan to the bar, where he stood before the crowd. They seemed eager to see what he had to say.

"This man is a gift from God," Jefferies addressed his comrades, "he came in our time of need and struck down the wolves!"

Several cheers of agreement came in reply.

"It's been a rough few months, but we pulled through. I had faith we would. And I'm glad a man like Deputy Rook was there to lead the charge."

Morgan, who had been overwhelmed by the praise being heaped on him, stepped forward.

"It's nothing, Father. We all did our part. I did no more than anyone else. I just did what I had to do to push back against the people who wanted to take everything we loved away."

Jeffries smiled. "And he's a humble man too! Just as the Lord likes it."

There were several laughs, Morgan included.

"Give us a speech, brother!" Hurk shouted.

"Yeah, speech!"

"Speech! Speech! Speech!" several members of the crowd chanted.

Morgan smiled and shook his head. "Let me think of one and I'll give it to you later. Mary?"

The bartender grinned at him. "What can I do for you, deputy?"

"Get me an IPA, any kind, and get these people some food. I think we're all starving."

Mary slid Morgan an ice-cold beer while the crowd cheered as Casey and his cooks bought out the food.

Morgan twisted off the top of his beer and looked past the crowd. Jess was standing at the back, not wanting to be noticed, as usual. Her arms were folded across her chest and she wore her normal stoic expression. Morgan looked past the bustling crowd and met her eyes. She noticed Morgan was looking at her and she picked her head up. Jess gave one of her rare genuine smiles and Morgan felt his lips turn into a natural smile of his own.

He looked at her and felt something in the pit of his stomach jump. Morgan could not recall any woman who had ever had that effect on him. Was there any other woman in the world like her? Probably not. No, definitely not.

Something about locking eyes with Jess in that moment made the world seem slower. In this moment, he just wanted to look at her, the master huntress, the only person he had come to truly trust to keep him alive in the field.

God.

She was  _beautiful_.

Maybe that was not the proper word to describe Jess. She was not simply "pretty" or "hot" or "beautiful" or any other basic term a man might use.

Morgan did not know what term to use. But he was content to just keep his eyes on her right now. But he did wish Jess and him could do more than just lock eyes across the room.

He took a swig of his beer and found Jess had disappeared. Probably to seek out a secluded corner. Morgan put his bottle down and went to find her. Remind himself of all the good in the world after witnessing so much of the horror humans could wreak on other humans.

The cult was nearly destroyed. But not eradicated. There would be more work for Morgan and Jess in the near future.

He actually looked forward to that.


	2. Something Worth Celebrating

The people of Fall's End and wider Hope County celebrated their victory well into the night. They drank, feasted, and partied, finally free from the Project's reign of terror. For the first time in weeks, the residents of Fall's End chowed down on as much food as they wanted, no longer having to worry about rationing in the face of the cult stealing resources. Even Boomer got a plate with a T-bone steak on it.

People danced while others bought out instruments. Others sung, some rather poorly, but it did not matter. What mattered was that Hope County was free. And maybe, just maybe, things could go back to normal.

Morgan finished his third beer, feeling a bit of a buzz now. Maybe it was time to switch over to water. Next to him, Jess sat back in her seat, sipping on her mixed drink. She watched a few half-drunk people dancing to a guy covering The Lumineers on his acoustic guitar.

"I haven't seen these people happy in ages," she mused.

"It's pretty great," Morgan replied.

She shook her head and put her drink down.

"What's wrong?" Morgan asked her.

"I don't know. People think that after all this shit, everything will just go back to normal. I just don't think shit is ever going to be the same again."

Despite her dead serious delivery of very legitimate concerns, Morgan could not contain a laugh.

Jess looked at him and frowned.

"What?" she snapped.

Morgan smiled at her and shook his head.

"Nothing, Jess. I think you're just mad you won't able to kill someone as often."

She frowned, but Morgan kept his smirk on his face. Eventually, she could not keep it up and started to laugh, causing her to bury her face in her hands and shake her head.

"I think I just like to be real about things, Morgan," she countered.

He shrugged.

"Maybe so."

"Well, that and killing Peggies has been my pastime for the past year or so. I'd feel lost without it," added Jess.

"You heard what the Sheriff was saying earlier. Eden's Gate is down, but not out. They'll never rebuild to the level they were when this shit all started, but there's still cultists out there," Morgan said.

"Then I'll be there putting arrows through their heads," Jess firmly proclaimed.

"Which reminds me," Morgan began, "you want to go hunting tomorrow? For Peggies, I mean. I have a few spots we should check out."

Jess smiled at that. Killing cultists was another thing that could bring a smile to the master huntress's face.

"I thought you'd never ask," she said approvingly.

"You know there's no one else I'd rather have watching my back," Morgan assured her.

"Why is that?" she pried.

Morgan paused before he could blurt out the first thing on his mind. In his head, he could see himself saying something smooth.

" _Maybe I just like having you close_ ," the idealized Morgan in his mind deftly told Jess, who in his mind would have blushed and giggled like a teenage schoolgirl.

But, Morgan knew that with his track record of love and relationships, his attempt to smoothly pay her a compliment would come out along the lines of:

" _I, uh, like your face. It's cool._ "

So, Morgan thought about his response.

"I can't think of anyone else in Hope County who can hit a man in the head at 60 yards with a fuckin' compound bow," Morgan said, "hard enough to do that with a gun."

Jess nodded and smirked. Maybe it was not a compliment on her physical appearance, but it was obviously an observation she noticed.

"I try, Morgan. I try."

"Seriously, you're like Robin Hood or something. Or whatever the female version of Robin would be," Morgan continued.

"I'm pretty sure Robin would work just fine as a girl's name too," Jess pointed out while laughing.

Morgan felt extremely stupid. He did try his best not to look like a complete fool in front of her.

"Oh, yeah, of course. That's what I meant," Morgan said, attempting to play it off.

Jess laughed again. "It's okay. I get what you were saying."

"Oh, good," Morgan said as he silently sighed in relief.

He loved seeing her laugh. It was such a simple thing, but a woman like Jess did not do it enough, Morgan felt. He found her laugh sweet and infectious. It was something he tried to bring out with stupid jokes and comments when they were out in the field, to varying levels of success. It was funny. Jess did much to keep up the ruthless killer persona, but once you got to know her, she was much more than just a young woman who seemed a bit too into shooting people with arrows.

That still was a big part of her character though. Morgan would not have it any other way.

They both finished their chuckling at Morgan's stumble. Jess picked up her drink and took a sip while Morgan observed the people celebrating. There was a comfortable silence between them, one that possessed a contemplative quality. He felt this could be a good time to make some sort of comment.

"You know, I'm glad I met you," Morgan told her.

She turned to him, with a look that betrayed some measure of hesitation.

"Because I'm the best bow hunter in Hope County?" she finally replied. The way she said it made Morgan think that was a kind of safe, measured response.

"Well, that, yeah. But, I don't know. You're just good company, I guess."

Jess smirked at that. "Me? Good company? That's a new one."

"Always room for something new," Morgan responded. "It keeps things fresh, right?"

"I mean, I guess," Jess said, "it's just not something a lot of people would say when they think of me."

"Is that so?"

"Come on, Morgan. I realize a lot of people think I'm a total bitch with more than a few issues."

She leaned back with a light shrug. "What can I say? I actually prefer it that way. Less people will want to mess with me."

"Well… I don't think you're a bitch," Morgan said.

She grinned. "That makes you and Dutch the only people who feel that way."

"I just had a good feeling about you. I'm a cop after all. I have to know how to read people," Morgan replied with a light shrug.

Jess nodded. "I had a good feeling about you too, you know."

Morgan could feel his cheeks burn. He could only hope that Jess could not tell in the low light of the bar. Then again, being a master tracker and hunter, she probably could tell. Which is probably why she looked down in an attempt to conceal a grin.

"I guess we're just both good at feelings," Morgan suggested.

Jess downed the last of her drink. "Maybe we are," she said quietly.

They sat in the same contemplative silence for several seconds. Morgan could feel his heart pounding. He felt like he should do more, but what exactly? Some sappy romance movie shit like grabbing her hand? Jess was not the kind of person for that and neither was he. Real life was not like the movies he watched when he was a teenager.

"Hey, I think I'm going to get going," Jess said.

"Oh," Morgan responded, trying not to sound disappointed.

"What? Are you disappointed?" Jess asked him with a smirk, obviously seeing through Morgan's attempts to play it cool.

"Oh, no! I mean… well," a flustered Morgan replied.

Jess laughed. She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a squeeze.

"Whoa, relax, Deputy Rook. I get you."

Morgan laughed back. "I'm glad."

She let go of his shoulder and stood up, picking up her hooded jacket. Jess threw on the ragged green jacket that she was so fond of and pulled the hood over her chocolate brown hair, giving her the distinctive profile Morgan had come to instantly recognize.

Jess looked over her shoulder as she headed for the exit.

"I'll see you tomorrow, eight in the morning," she ordered rather than asked.

Morgan had to smile at the way she liked to take charge.

"Whatever you say, Jess."

Jess smiled back one last time.

"Goodnight, Morgan."

"Goodnight, Jess."

Morgan watched her melt past the revelers in the bar and head out the door. With a shake of his head, he sighed and leaned back. He knew that she would be on his mind the rest of the night, and probably in his dreams. Morgan often thought about just how clichéd it was, seeing Jess in his dreams. Not like he could help it, though. The subconscious works in mysterious ways.

As much as he wanted dreams to be reality, Morgan felt that he was at a strange place. He got the feeling there was… something there. Maybe Jess felt the same way and had a difficult time expressing it. That would make two of them, if that was the case.

Morgan had never really been one for romantic relationships. He had never had a steady girlfriend and had only been on a few dates with women through college. None of them lasted. His friends often told him that he would find the right one eventually.

Was Jess Black "the right one?" He liked to think so. There was no one in the world like her, that was for sure. It was also a fact that Morgan felt something for her he had never felt for another woman. This feeling was intrusive and at times took him over.

He wanted her. He wanted to be around her and get to know what made Jess Black, Jess Black. Without a doubt he wanted all these things. But how exactly was he supposed to get from here to what he constantly dreamt about?

 _Feelings are stupid_ , Morgan thought as he took a sip of his beer.

* * *

Morgan's cell phone let out an incessant tone that caused him to groggily sit up and paw at the nightstand next to him in order to silence it. He looked at the screen which helpfully informed him it was 7:00 in the morning.

As he stretched, Morgan thought about Jess, who he would be seeing in an hour. Last night, he had a dream him and Jess were together in a field under a starry sky. In front of them, a campfire gave off a pleasant warming glow. They were sitting together, hand in hand. He could not remember what they were talking about, but Jess was laughing and smiling- that was all that mattered. The last thing that occurred before he woke up was Jess putting an arm around him and pulling him close.

" _I fucking love you,_ " dream-Jess told him.

Morgan thought about his dream and the previous night as he got ready for the day. Since his rental house was one of the homes burned down by Eden's Gate during their occupation of Fall's End, Mary had let Morgan stay in a spare room in the upstairs of the Spread Eagle. It was not too bad. The room was clean, roomy, and had a full bathroom across the hallway. Plus, it was free. Can't beat that.

Morgan came downstairs, where Mary sat at the bar, sipping coffee.

"Good morning, Mary," he greeted.

"Mornin' deputy," Mary said pleasantly. Morgan was amazed at the woman's ability to function so early in the morning, especially after a long night.

"Can I get you something to eat?"

"Uh… can I have sunny side up eggs?" he asked.

"Morgan, you can get any kind of eggs you want after everything you've done for us," Mary started.

She paused. "Within reason."

Morgan chuckled. "I'm easy to please, so don't worry."

Mary picked up a steaming coffee pot and poured him a cup.

"Want any sugar or anything?"

"I'm good, thanks," Morgan said.

He took a deep sip and set down the cup. Mary was leaning on the counter, smiling at him. She obviously wanted to talk about something.

"How'd you fare last night?" Morgan asked.

Mary shrugged. "Not bad. Almost everyone got totally wasted. But I had enough sober enough hands to help with the cleanup."

"I turned in early- sorry I couldn't help."

Mary waved him off. "Forget about it, Morgan. You've done enough already. I don't need you scrubbing plates."

"So…" Mary continued, "I saw you talking to Jess Black."

Morgan looked up mid-sip.

"You did?" he asked hesitantly.

"I did."

"Well, yeah, I was. She's my friend. We did a lot of damage to Eden's Gate together," Morgan explained.

"So, do you like her?" Mary asked.

Morgan almost choked on his coffee.

"I- what?"

Mary shook her head and chuckled. "Morgan, this is a very small town. It's easy to know everyone's business. Can't really avoid it."

"Uh… well… I guess… It's weird…" Morgan stammered in reply.

"Hey, we're friends. This isn't high school. You can tell me. Maybe I can give some advice," Mary assured him.

Morgan sighed. "Dammit, Mary. Alright, yeah. I 'like' her. I guess you could say that."

"Well, why don't you ask her out?" Mary asked, as if it was a no-brainer.

"I know that would be the thing to do in a normal situation. But I don't think this is a normal situation. We're still at war with a murderous doomsday cult. Our main activities together consist to killing shit and blowing shit up."

"Okay, you're right. This is a little different. Jess is a… different kind of person too."

"You could say that," Morgan chuckled.

"As a woman, I can only really tell you just keep at it. You two are always running around together and seem to be pretty tight. So, you got that down. But, what I think is important is that you show her that you care and that you're there for her. Most girls like that. With everything she's been though… she'll appreciate it," Mary advised.

"I care about her. A lot. I'm there for her and she knows it," Morgan replied resolutely.

"I have no doubts about that. You're a great man, Morgan. She deserves someone like you."

Before he could answer, Jess pushed open the door to the bar and strolled in. Her green jacket was on, her bow slung over her shoulder, and quiver was secured to her back. She was most certainly ready.

"Morgan! You're still eating? Come on, let's get a move on. We got Peggies to kill," she urged.

Morgan turned back to Mary who smirked.

"Hell of a woman," she whispered. Morgan could only smirk back.

He grabbed his bag and rifle, throwing both items onto his shoulders. Jess smiled at him. He could almost see her eyes light up when he looked into them.

 _Hell of a woman indeed_ , Morgan thought as they headed out.


	3. Quality Time

Jess sat crouched in the low brush of the forest while Morgan sat a few feet in front of her peering through his binoculars. It was about eleven in the morning, and their fruitless search of the nearby forest had made a turn around when they came up on an airfield, where a cultist fighter aircraft was sitting on the tarmac. A sizable group of Eden's Gate soldiers were milling around, performing preflight checks or arming weapons. Morgan scanned down to see a pair of cultists rolling a distinctive green barrel. Bliss.

Jess looked at the cultists going about their activities with interest, but she became distracted by a mosquito buzzing around her face. It was late May, well into Spring. Nature is in bloom. And so were the bugs.

"These bugs can fuck right off," Jess mumbled as she swatted away the mosquito, which promptly came back to buzz at her with a vengeance.

Morgan continued to look down his binoculars.

"Shush, I'm concentrating," he told her.

Jess scowled and threw a pinecone at Morgan, which bounced off the back of his head.

"Hey!" he exclaimed as he turned around to face her.

"Don't 'shush' me. Asshole," she scolded.

Morgan felt ashamed for angering Jess, but saw she was grinning. She did not mean it and was just pushing his buttons. It was… cute, in a way. In a very Jess Black sort of way.

"I'll 'shush' you whenever I want," Morgan countered, also grinning.

She got up and moved closer to him. Closer than she really needed to be, but Morgan did not complain.

"You can try," she said in a tone that bordered on teasing.

Morgan felt the familiar feeling in the pit of his stomach. Normally, he would have used a bit of his confidence to continue the back-and-forth, but he was actually more concerned with the cultists at the moment.

"So, what's the plan?" Jess asked. She seemed eager to get to work. Morgan decided to oblige her.

He drew his 9mm Browning Hi-Power pistol and threaded a suppressor over the muzzle.

"The plan, Miss Black, is I'm going to go down there quiet and see if I can't take these guys down without them noticing. And as always, you'll cover me with those fantastic bow skills of yours."

"Oh, so I'm 'Miss Black' now?" she asked in that same teasing tone.

Morgan paused. She was being a bit… forward today. He had noticed it. When they were hiking an hour earlier, Jess asked for his help steadying herself on a climb up a rocky ridge. Morgan offered his hand to her, assuming she would grab his wrist or upper arm. Instead, she grabbed his hand and held on for longer than she probably had to. It made Morgan wonder what was going on in her head.

Sure, they had been sharing those occasional glances and "accidental" touches that hinted at  _something_  for the past few weeks. But this was new. Morgan could not complain. This was what he wanted, after all.

He almost wanted to laugh out loud at what he was concerning himself with. They had been fighting together the past few weeks against an army of fanatics who believed the end of the world was nigh. And Morgan occupied much of his thoughts with  _does she like me?_  It was like being back in high school.

"Oh, uh, it just popped into my head," Morgan mustered.

Jess was smirking, probably at his awkwardness. Maybe she found it endearing.

"Whatever you say. So, you head down there, pop a few heads, and I'll make sure to come save your dumb ass when you inevitably get spotted."

"That's how it usually goes, right?" Morgan said with a grin.

She gave a smile back. "Right."

Jess stood up and picked up the bow she had leaned against a tree. With expert precision, she nocked an arrow and took up a position by a fallen log.

"Well, get down there so I can start killing people!" she urged Morgan.

"Yes, ma'am," Morgan replied as he ran down the hill.

* * *

Grayson Horton, a former plumber's apprentice turned Chosen pilot, looked over the small gang of Eden's Gate fighters he had at his disposal. They were all men, armed with a mishmash of different weapons. A few had automatic rifles, some just had a pistol, others were armed with a melee weapon. But what mattered was that these men were ready to continue the fight for the Project.

It was no secret that the Father was gone. Taken by the heretics and sinners. But the Father would have wanted his flock to continue their work, because regardless of what happened, the Collapse was still coming. They still had much to do.

The loss of the Father, along with John, Jacob, and Faith, had made the job of Horton and the rest of the Project that much more difficult. Many of the faithful were being led by various Project VIPs now, or in some cases, Chosen who had stepped up. There was reports that some of the Project were giving up and leaving Hope County.

_Let them leave_ , Horton thought.  _Leave us who want to do something_.

The sinners, led by that damned deputy Morgan Rook, had taken back almost all of the county. Most of the Project's outposts and bases of operations were destroyed or taken back by the sinners. There were few aircraft left and even fewer places to land them. The supply of Bliss was starting to dry up too. Any Bliss that remained had to be used prudently.

The sinners thought they had won, that the Project had been destroyed. No. They were battered, but not beaten. Horton had seen the heretics from afar the previous night, celebrating like this was over. He wanted to grab his rifle and walk into town, killing as many as he could before the sinners took him down. But that would not have been an efficient use of his life. So, he had another plan.

"Sir, you're ready to go. We got the Bliss loaded into bombs and it should remain stable until detonation," one of the men, Merton, reported.

"Good," Horton said with a nod.

"Listen up!" he called out, addressing his men. "The Father gave us the groundworks, but now we must finish the job. We've already gone over our plan, now we must execute it. Once the sinners in Fall's End have been put under the Bliss, we will march in and take back their town. It's what Joseph would have wanted of us."

The assembled Project fighter mumbled in agreement. Horton nodded firmly.

"You four," he said, pointing to a random foursome, "go and patrol the fence and make sure no one gets in. The rest of you, make sure no one gets on the tarmac and meet at the rally point when I get the job done."

With that, Horton moved to jump into the cockpit and began to warm up his plane.

* * *

Morgan moved steadily and quietly down towards the fence surrounding the airfield. The Chosen pilot had jumped into his plane and would definitely be taking off soon.

He had connected an earpiece to his radio so he could talk to Jess hands-free. With a grunt, Morgan slid into cover in a patch of bush. Two cultists came towards him, one armed with a wood splitting axe and another with a shotgun. They walked slowly and casually, so they obviously had not seen him.

"Jess," he whispered, "I'll get the one with the gun. Think you can get the guy with the axe?"

" _If you insist_ ," she replied over the radio.

As the two cultists meandered over to Morgan's position, Morgan popped up and put a single 9mm round through the shotgun toting cultist's forehead. As his buddy dropped, the second man jumped in surprise and faced Morgan. Before he could make a sound, an arrow sailed through the air and pierced his temple. He stumbled forward and fell to his side.

Morgan gave a thumb's up in Jess's direction and moved on.

A second pair of cultists were standing in front of the gate to the airfield. They were scanning the horizon for hostiles but did not catch Morgan slipping through the undergrowth just beyond their field of vision.

"I'll take right. Why don't you take the left?" Morgan said into his earpiece.

" _Sounds like a plan_."

Morgan picked up a small rock and tossed it at the fence, causing it make a metallic sound that caused both guards to turn around. They did not have a chance to notice Morgan rising up and firing one round into the back of one man's head while Jess simultaneously sent an arrow sailing clean through the neck of the other man.

With both guards down, Morgan stepped over their corpses and pushed open the gate. He swiftly entered and shut the gate behind him. Seeing as the Peggies were not paying attention to him at the moment, he crouch-ran to a wooden crate and took cover, just in time for a cultist to hop up and take a seat in front of him.

Wasting no time, Morgan reached over and put an arm around the cultist's neck. He applied a rear naked chokehold while pulling the man behind the crate. The cultist struggled and thrashed, but Morgan held firm until the man faded into unconsciousness.

While pondering his next move, Morgan heard a cultist say "hey, Alex, where'd you go?"

Morgan looked down at the unconscious Peggie.

_Shit. Are you Alex?_  he thought to himself.

Morgan peeked over the crate and saw a man walking over, curious as to why his friend suddenly vanished. As he took the AK-47 slung over his shoulder into his hands, Morgan leaned around the corner of the crate and fired a shot from his pistol, dropping the man with a shot through the bridge of his nose.

Unfortunately, another cultist had just turned around and caught sight of his friend's brains blowing out the back of his head.

"What the hell?!" he managed to shout before an arrow slammed through the base of his skull.

"Ah, shit," Morgan snapped.

He holstered his pistol and readied the custom AR-15 rifle he had slung over his shoulder.

" _Nice going!_ " Jess said over the radio.

"Save it!" Morgan shouted.

He peered over the crate and began sending semi-automatic fire at the cultists streaming towards him. Two of his rounds caught a cultist in the torso, causing him to shout and fall to the ground.

One of Jess's arrows found its home in the back of a cultist hiding behind cover and she wasted no time sending another that slammed into the heart of a cultist taking aim at Morgan with a hunting rifle. Realizing she could not provide the best cover from her position, Jess ran down the hill, bow at the ready. The cultists were advancing on Morgan, weapons firing incessantly. She had to do something.

Morgan hopped up and sprinted to cover behind a pickup truck all while bullets whizzed past him. His heart was pumping and he took a moment to appreciate the fact he had managed to not get hit this whole time.

As he listened to bullets impact into metal, Morgan paused to swap magazines in his rifle. He put the empty magazine back in his pocket and loaded a fresh one. He was about to pull the charging handle when a shadow came over him.

A cultist armed with a baseball ran towards him. He was going to pounce before Morgan could get a chance to chamber a round and aim.

"Got you, sinner!" he shouted as he raised his bat over his head.

An arrow seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere and impact his thigh, causing the cultist to shout in pain and stumble onto one knee. Morgan did not waste a moment to load his weapon and fire a single 5.56mm round, which took off half the cultist's face.

"It's Black! Get her!" one of the cultists shouted.

Morgan looked around the corner of the truck and saw Jess sprinting towards him. The cultists obviously feared her and seemed to mostly forget Morgan existed. She drew their fire, but was able to get into cover behind some crates.

Morgan used this opportunity to leap up and go of the offensive. With focused precision, Morgan fired several rounds and downed three cultists. Jess claimed two more kills, one with an arrow through the throat and one with an arrow through the left eye.

The Peggies were all dead, but they could not reflect on the victory as the Chosen began to taxi down the runway.

"Come on, we got to take him down!" Morgan urged Jess. She nodded and followed him as he ran.

Morgan came to a stop and fired several rounds from his rifle. A few pinged off the metal skin of the plane but did no damage. Suddenly, his weapon clicked, indicating he was dry.

"Oh, crap," he said frantically as he tried to reload as fast he could.

Jess was silent, yet focused on something else. She withdrew one of her homemade incendiary arrows and aimed it at the plane. It was covered in a form of very sticky and very flammable pine resin and Morgan knew what she was going to do.

"Jess, there's no way…"

"Shut up," she told him plainly. She was obviously concentrating.

Morgan just decided to let Jess do her thing.

As the plane began to lift up, Jess released her grip on the bowstring. Her homemade arrow flew and stuck itself to the bottom of the fuselage- right in front of the cockpit.

* * *

Flames suddenly appeared in front of Horton's face as he took off. Before the Chosen could do anything about it, flames licked into exposed engine parts and quickly began to ignite electronics and insulation material. In a minute, fire began to creep into the cockpit itself and a few seconds after that, Horton found himself on fire.

He quickly lost control of the plane, screaming as he attempted to put out his burning clothes. It did not matter because his aircraft took a dive and crashed into the woods.

* * *

Morgan watched the explosion from his position, which was followed by thick black smoke rising into the air. He looked at Jess, not realizing his mouth had dropped open.

She looked satisfied with herself.

"Man, that never gets old," she quipped as she stowed her bow.

"How the  _fuck_  do you do these things?" Morgan inquired.

Jess was turning to walk away from the carnage.

"Practice. Lots and lots of practice."

"Well, I can certainly see that."

Jess nodded and turned around to survey her and Morgan's handiwork.

"This is what I like to see," she said approvingly.

They walked together out of the airfield and back on the wooded trail towards where Morgan had parked their truck.

"So, uh, thanks again," he told her.

She shrugged. "It's what I'm here for."

"To bail me out?" he asked with a smile.

"To bail your ass out of trouble," she confirmed, also adding a smile.

They walked a bit more in silence. It was still early. But they both felt spent after the intense fight.

"So, what are you doing tonight?" Morgan asked her when he tired of hearing nothing but birds and their feet crunching on the trail.

Jess looked at him, seemingly interested in the question.

"You want to know what I'm doing tonight? Since when?"

"Since, like, always. We're friends, right?"

"I would say so."

"Yeah, so I'm just wondering. Miss Black," Morgan said.

She chuckled at that.

"Well, Grace has been staying in one of the abandoned houses in Fall's End. She's been letting me sleep there. I might have some dinner later and uh, I don't know, mess with my bows."

"That certainly sounds like you," Morgan nodded.

"So, I guess I should ask what you're doing tonight too, right?" she said.

"Oh, nothing much," he replied, not sure where he was actually going with this.

"Sounds like a crazy night for Deputy Rook," she teased.

"You know me."

They reached the pickup they had used to drive into the area and got in. Morgan started the engine and began the drive back to Fall's End.

About ten minutes later, Jess tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, can you let me off here?" she asked. "I'm thinking of doing some hunting."

Morgan pulled over and put the truck in park. Jess opened her door and hopped out, taking her bow with her. She walked over to the driver's side and leaned on the open windowsill.

"Thanks for the ride, Morgan. And thanks for taking me to kill Peggies," she said.

Morgan gave a grin. "Anytime, Jess. Anytime."

She turned to leave, but lingered ever so slightly.

"Hey, Jess?" Morgan asked. He had decided that maybe, just  _maybe_  he should take a little more steps towards achieving those dreams of his.

She stopped her leaving.

"What's up?"

"I was wondering- do you want to get a beer later in town?" he managed to get out without stammering or stumbling once.

Jess was silent. Then she smiled. A real, genuine smile.

_God, it looks so nice on her._

"You want to get a beer," she repeated.

"Yeah. You know- drinks. And stuff," Morgan added.

She chuckled and looked down at the ground, still smiling.

"If you don't want to, that's fine-" Morgan began before she looked up at him.

"Of course I want to get a beer with you. I'll see you at eight. How's that sound?" she asked.

Morgan tried to process her reply. He ended up staring blankly at her in a stunned silence for a moment.

"You okay?" she asked while laughing.

Morgan blinked. "Oh! Yeah, yeah eight is good."

"Then I'll be seeing you at eight, deputy," Jess said as she finally turned and headed into the woods.

Morgan watched her depart from his seat. With all the grace befitting of a master huntress, she effortlessly glided over the rough terrain and underbrush. Before disappearing into the woods, she looked back at Morgan and smiled one last time.

In that moment, Morgan felt life was pretty good.


	4. A Night on the Town

When Morgan got back to Fall's End around four in the afternoon, he immediately went back up to his room and prepared for…

Prepared for what exactly?

A  _date_?

Or were he and Jess just "hanging out," as people a few years younger than him liked to say?

_Relationships are so fucking weird_ , Morgan thought as he shaved the stubble that clung to his cheeks and chin. His only consolation was that Jess Black was not your average woman by a long shot. Her no-nonsense, straightforward, bullshit-free attitude hopefully applied to relationships. Hopefully.

Morgan often wondered at length what Jess's previous relationship experience was. He could have asked, but felt too afraid to bring it up. What were her former boyfriends like, if there were any? Or former girlfriends. If she swung that way. Morgan did not know.

After shaving, Morgan jumped into the shower. The water was lukewarm on a good day and soap was hard to come by, but a refreshing, somewhat hot shower was always good to wash off the dirt, grime, and blood of the day. He would also do anything to make himself presentable to Jess.

As he dried off, he ran a hand through his thick, black hair. He usually kept his hair on the shorter side, but did not like it too short. He enjoyed having the combination of a low-maintenance cut coupled with having actual hair to run his hand through.

Did Jess like his hair like this? That was the important question. He wished he could have some gel or pomade to style it, but he had to settle for pushing his wet hair back with a comb. After that, he picked out the cleanest and least wrinkled shirt in his limited wardrobe (which was not saying much at all). It was a dark green plaid flannel, not his favorite design, but it was not covered in grime or full of bullet holes. He paired that with a standard pair of blue jeans and looked in the mirror.

Morgan looked just slightly less grungy than he had been the past few weeks. It was an improvement. And it would have to do.

He went down to the bar and found Mary right where she standing hours earlier.

"Evening, Morgan," she greeted as she polished the bar counter.

Morgan took a seat at the bar. "Hey. Do you  _ever_  go home?"

Mary chuckled and raised her arms to indicate the whole building.

"This is my home!"

"Fair enough," Morgan said with a smile.

"So, what are you up to tonight, deputy? You're dressed up," she inquired.

Morgan laughed and pulled at his shirt collar.

"Sure says something when this is considered 'dressed up' these days. I'll have you know, I'm seeing Jess in a few hours," Morgan explained.

Mary's eyes lit up as she leaned up.

"Shit, really? Well, look at you, deputy! What are you guys up to?"

"I asked her to join me for a beer at Fall's End's finest eating watering hole."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Fall's End's  _only_  watering hole, more like."

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Morgan replied. "I think it's the owner that keeps people coming back."

She laughed at that. "Well, shit, Morgan I can see why Jess is open to a date!"

"I'm not sure if you want to consider this a 'date' or not. I don't really know what it is," he said with a shrug.

Mary listened to his concerns and nodded in understanding. Morgan shook his head and looked at the ceiling.

"God. Listen to what I'm saying. I'm a fucking 28-year-old man and I sound like a 16-year-old girl."

"Hey, don't worry yourself. I've known Jess for a while. She's a little rough around the edges, but I believe she's a good girl at heart. And you're a really nice guy. Sweet, funny, always willing to help- you'll be fine," Mary encouraged him.

"You paint me in such a positive light," he said back.

"I don't just say these things, Deputy Rook," she hinted.

Admitting defeat, Morgan shrugged. She sensed this and smiled.

"Say, why don't I get you something to eat? You should have some food in your stomach before you start drinking."

Morgan nodded. He was a little hungry.

"Yeah, thanks. That sounds good."

A few minutes later, Casey whipped up a burger, which Mary served to Morgan. As he thanked her, Mary leaned in.

"My final word of advice Morgan- try not to bring any children into the world tonight," she whispered.

"Wait, what's that supposed to-" he began.

Mary was walking away, chuckling

"Hey! Wait, no, that's probably not going to be an issue!" he called.

"Whatever you say, Morgan!"

* * *

At precisely eight that night, the door to the Spread Eagle opened and Morgan turned to see Jess enter. In the moody lights of the bar, she seemed mysterious and exuded the kind of brooding spirit Morgan liked so much about her.

"Jess!" Morgan called from the table he had settled at.

She looked over and smiled before stepping into better lighting. Morgan felt his eyes widen and had to consciously exert effort to prevent his jaw from dropping.

"You, uh, look really nice," he managed to compliment her.

The truth was Jess Black looked absol-fucking-utely gorgeous. Morgan was sure that he was looking at the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes upon. Of course, he did not want to be letting that on. Not that early, anyway.

She had obviously cleaned up a bit too, but that not strayed far from her natural look. She wore a blue button-down shirt and pair of clean black jeans that conveniently showed off the pleasant curve of her backside. Her hair looked freshly cleaned and shampooed, but it remained as it was usually styled- casually tossed in a way that let it flow like a waterfall down her shoulders.

Jess wore no makeup, of course. Not like she ever needed to. She was the kind of woman that was a natural beauty without even realizing it. Although they were products of various encounters with Eden's Gate and run-ins with hostile wildlife, Morgan had to admit that he liked the scars that crisscrossed her face. It made her stand out and show that she was not someone to trifle with. She had stories written across her skin.

In the low light of the bar, her eyes really came out. Morgan stared into her teal eyes and recalled the only time he had seen such a brilliant shade of blue was when he went to the Caribbean during a spring break. But her eyes were even more gorgeous than the Caribbean Sea sparkling in the sun.

Morgan would have been content to just take her in all night long.

But, Jess chuckled as he stared, reminding him what exactly he was supposed to be doing.

"Are you okay?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yeah. I'm fine," he lied. "You just look really nice."

She smiled and took a seat across from him.

"Thanks. You clean up rather nicely too."

Morgan shrugged. "I have my ways."

Noticing the two sitting at the table, Mary came over, looking quite pleased.

"Evening, Jess! I didn't realize you'd be coming by tonight. Can I get you guys anything to drink?"

Morgan managed to suppress a chuckle. Mary typically did not come over and ask people if they wanted something. As he looked at her, she gave him a sly smile.

In truth, Morgan could not care what he was drinking. He was there for Jess.

"Hm. How about… dealer's choice?" he asked.

She nodded and turned to Jess. "What about you, Jess?"

Jess shrugged. "I'll take what he's having."

"Good choice. I'll be back," Mary said as she left.

Morgan and Jess both chuckled and turned back to face each other.

"So. How was your day?" Morgan asked her.

"Well, I had a great time killing Peggies earlier with this dumbass sheriff's deputy who doesn't know the meaning of 'go in quietly,'" she teased.

"Oh, I wonder who that was?" Morgan replied sarcastically.

"He ended up proving himself useful, though."

"I'm certainly glad he did."

"I also managed to bag two rabbits. Field dressed them and sold the skins for a few bucks. Used that to buy a couple more arrows. You know. In case we go out to fuck up more Peggies tomorrow," she said.

Morgan nodded pensively. "I don't have anything doing tomorrow. I might have to go and bring you along."

"I'd be offended if you didn't."

Mary returned, holding two ice-cold bottles of Whistling Beaver Ale. She served the two bottles to Morgan and Jess.

"You two enjoy now," she told them.

They thanked her and Morgan used a bottle opener on the table to open his beer. Jess simply pried off the cap on the edge of the table.

He held up his own bottle.

"Cheers."

"To what?" she asked as she raised her beer to us.

Morgan thought about that for a moment.

"To… victory. Being alive. And hoping that we can all move on from this."

Jess nodded. "How about to us?"

"Us?"

"Yeah. Me and you. We make a pretty good team."

Morgan smiled at that. "That we do, Miss Black."

They clinked their bottle together and each took a sip. Jess put her bottle down and Morgan saw she had a rather displeased look on her face.

"I forgot Whistling Beaver tastes like ass," she grimaced.

"Should've ordered something you liked then," Morgan said with a sympathetic shrug.

Jess took another sip of her beer.

"Eh, it'll grow on me."

* * *

"So, she starts complaining to me about ammo shortages and I'm just like, 'bitch, get a bow. Make your own arrows out of sticks and rocks,'" Jess recounted to Morgan about a conversation she recently had with a whiny female militia fighter.

Morgan was on his second beer and almost spat out the sip he just took laughing.

"You're a real people person, Jess."

She rolled her eyes.

"It's not my fault she was annoying."

"I just want to point out one thing, though," Morgan began, setting down his beer, "I've never actually seen you use arrows made out of sticks or rocks or whatever. You just use regular carbon steel arrows you buy from the store."

Jess shot him an annoyed look. "Okay, smartass, I wasn't trying to be all literal or whatever. What I'm trying to say is that when you use a gun and shoot someone, your bullet is gone unless you want to sit around reloading your own ammo later, which is boring as fuck and takes a while. When you are like me and shoot people with arrows, you just walk up and rip your arrow out of their skull."

Morgan laughed again.

"This is why people feel the way they do about you."

Jess rolled her eyes.

"Why did I agree to hanging out with you?" she asked in a tone of mock disgust.

"Because you like me so much?" Morgan asked. It was meant to be rhetorical. But he wanted to see what she said.

"Alright. Maybe I do," she conceded.

"I  _know_  you do," Morgan said slyly.

She smiled at that. "You certainly know a lot."

They paused to each take sip of their beers. The resulting silence felt comfortable, if maybe a bit loaded. It was like they both wanted to say more but chose not to.

Jess, however, spoke up first.

"So, Morgan. When's the last time you did this?"

"Did what? Drink a beer?"

She smirked. "God, you're such a fucking smartass. No. I'm talking about sitting in a dive bar with a girl. Drinking. And talking. And… you know."

Morgan was slightly taken aback by her question. She looked at him, obviously curious about his answer.

"Shit, I don't know. Probably my college days."

"Well, damn Morgan, I didn't realize you got some fancy college degree to your name!" Jess said, sounding genuinely impressed. Morgan knew college degrees were somewhat of a rarity in these parts.

"Oh, yeah, that's me. Educated at some elite private institution. No, I just went to the University of Montana and got a degree in criminal justice. You know I'm not originally from here, right? I grew up in Billings."

Jess nodded, remembering that detail Morgan told her shortly after their first meeting.

"Right," he continued, "so I got my degree and I knew I wanted to be a cop. I knew that since I was a little kid. So, I took a law enforcement course through the state, got certified, and wound up here. My dad knew a guy who told me that Hope County needed a new deputy. I just so happened to drop in at the worst possible time."

"Or best possible time, if you want to look at that way. I mean, you wouldn't have met me and missed out on all the Peggie killing," Jess said matter-of-factly.

"Very true. I mean, I could've done without the Peggie killing. But then I wouldn't have met you!"

"Damn right!" Jess laughed. She went on.

"I was wondering this earlier, Morgan. What did you think about me when we first met?"

"Geez. We met… what? A month or two ago?"

"Feels like a while ago," she commented.

"Feels like ages ago," Morgan added.

"So, what  _did_  you think?" Jess asked again.

Morgan settled back in his chair.

"I'll tell you."

* * *

_What the fuck have I gotten myself into?_  Morgan thought to himself as he clumsily crashed through the forest undergrowth, attempting to keep pace with the woman he just met.

Just ten minutes earlier, Morgan had assisted a group of militia fighters in liberating the Baron Lumber Mill, which the cult had hastily repurposed into a prison. A number of people had been freed from captivity, but Morgan noticed one person who was not like the others. While others cried and breathlessly thanked the militia and Morgan for their help, one young woman immediately made her way to the crates of weapons confiscated by Eden's Gate and retrieved a camouflaged compound bow and a quiver of arrows.

Morgan approached her.

"Everything okay?" he asked the young woman. She turned around and Morgan was taken aback slightly by her heavily scarred face and lips curled into a scowl. She was on the petite end, but definitely looked tough as hell.

The woman nodded. "Thanks for busting me out. Name's Jess. If you're out here pickin' fights with the cult, then I'm guessin' you already know my uncle Dutch."

"Yeah, I know Dutch. He saved my ass two weeks back. I'm Morgan Rook, by the way. Hope County Sheriff's Department… what's left of it."

Jess nodded, quickly processing the essential information. She obviously had something on her mind.

"Look, I don't got a lot of time to waste, I'm going to get right to the point. I was on the trail of one of Jacob's zealots. Goes by the name 'The Cook.' Yeah, that don't sound so scary. But believe me- he's one twisted fuck."

Morgan nodded, sensing from her tone this "Cook" was more than just some random cultist to her.

"Almost tracked him down, but a Peggie patrol got the drop on me. I need your help. We can't let this trail go cold. This guy's butchered a lot of innocent folk around here. Can't let him get away with it any longer. Gotta move- wasted too much time already. Follow me."

With that, Jess began jogging off towards the woods without even waiting for Morgan to answer. It was obvious that Jess had ordered, rather than requested, for him to follow her. Morgan ran after her, not wanting to piss her off. She looked pretty badass and could most likely kick his ass.

Jess moved through the woods with a supreme sort of grace and confidence, the likes of which Morgan had never seen, even in the most skilled of hunters he had met. She was obviously at home in the woods and seemed to have a sixth sense that showed her where to go and how to do it quickly and quietly. Morgan stumbled over rocks and tree roots while Jess just seemed to glide over the terrain.

She told a story about how The Cook tortured and murdered a mother and father in front of their own children. Her tone wavered just barely above uncontained rage as she told the story. It was clear that even though she did not mention it until the very end, the mother and father in her story were her own parents and she was one of the children forced to watch. It was obvious this was a very personal matter.

When they happened upon a group of people being held hostage by the cult, Morgan saw first hand what she could do with her bow. Before Morgan could even finish threading a suppressor onto his AR-15, Jess let three arrows fly in the blink of an eye, with all three hitting and killing their targets.

Morgan fired a single shot, which missed, and alerted the remaining cultists to their position.

"Guess you're not a fan of going in quiet," Jess sarcastically commented.

He attempted to give a look that said  _sorry_ , but she was already sprinting down the hill. Morgan just shook his head and took off after her.

Jess leaped over a log, arrow already in her draw hand. She wasted no time nocking it and loosing her bow at a cultist running to engage her. Jess slid over a crate and fired another arrow, which impacted the throat of a cultist, causing him flip back like he just slipped on a banana peel. It would have been funny in any other circumstance.

Morgan came up behind her, dropping two cultists with a quick burst of rifle fire. He took cover as a third opened fire on him. Morgan peeked from behind the crate he sheltered behind to see the cultist advancing on his position, rifle held in a ready position. With some unsteadiness, Morgan stuck his weapon over the top of the crate and wildly blind-fired. The cultist dived to the side to avoid Morgan's frenzied counter attack. As he attempted to get up, Jess came up behind him and plunged her buck knife into the back of his neck, twisted once, and impassively threw his body down.

"Alright, we're clear," Jess said coolly.

Morgan got up and reloaded his weapon. He could feel his heart beating rapidly and his breath rapidly entering and exiting his body. In contrast, Jess did not seem to break a sweat. In fact, she looked rather bored, as if the fight did not provide enough of a challenge.

"Let's get these people free," Jess suggested. Morgan nodded and moved to the closest man, who as sitting in a cage with his hands tied.

"Oh, thank you, God! Oh, Jesus. They were gonna take us to The Cook, you know, the crazy motherfucker who burns people alive!" the man breathlessly told Morgan.

"Well, that's not happening today. Get on out of here," Morgan replied.

The man made good on that advice and sprinted away. Jess was talking to a female captive she had freed. After a moment, Jess nodded and the woman ran in the opposite direction.

"Come on. Cook is executing people right now. Let's go," she instructed Morgan.

As was becoming the usual, she did not wait for Morgan and ran off.

They across what Jess explained was "The Pit," which was apparently The Cook's favorite hangout. It was appropriately named as it took the form of a ring of trailers and prefab modules that ringed around to form a literal pit, where a man was standing, using a flamethrower to immolate three screaming people tied to posts.

"The weak are impure and unworthy!" the man screamed to the sky after his victims died.

"There he is. The fuckin' Cook," Jess spat, her tone pure venom.

"Their souls are plagued by filth!" The Cook raved.

"Dammit, he's burning them!" Jess snarled.

She nocked an arrow and raised her bow, aiming slightly above The Cook to compensate for gravity. She took a deep breath and released the tension on the bow strong.

The arrow flew through the air and hit its mark, only for it to bounce off The Cook's homemade iron armor. He stumbled but turned around and immediately spotted the pair.

"Sinners! Kill them!" he commanded the men around him.

Morgan and Jess ducked to avoid getting hit by the hail of bullets. They both ran down the incline down into The Pit while bullet impacts kicked up dust around them.

Jess shouted as she ran towards a pair of cultists. One attempted to shoot her with a .357 magnum revolver, but she was faster, sending an arrow that pierced his right eye and came punching out of the back of his skull. A second cultist, this one wielding a machete, charged at her, his blade held up high.

"For the Father!" he cried as he swung his machete in a wide overhead swing at Jess's head. Jess deftly dodged underneath the machete and scrambled forward. She took the arrow nocked onto her bow and stuck it through the side of the cultist's neck. It went in from the left and easily pierced the flesh on the opposite side. He dropped his machete, gurgling on blood as he futilely attempted to pull out the arrow. Jess kicked him in the back and immediately readied another arrow.

A few feet away, Morgan rounded the side of a trailer, coming face to face with a rifle wielding cultist. Morgan slammed the barrel of his rifle into the cultist's stomach. As the man bent over with his hands on his stomach, Morgan pressed the muzzle of his own AR-15 to the cultist's chin and fired.

Another cultist came up behind Morgan and brought a baseball bat down on Morgan's right shoulder. Crying out in pain and surprise, Morgan fell flat onto his stomach. The cultist stood over Morgan and readied a finishing blow, but an arrow impacted the man's left thigh. As he screamed and put his hands over the wound. Morgan used this opportunity to roll over and draw his Browning Hi-Power from his thigh holster and unload several rounds into the cultist's chest.

Morgan pushed himself up and Jess came over to him.

"You good?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm-  _oh shit!_ "

Morgan pushed Jess out of the way as he half ran, half tripped out of the way of the stream of flame The Cook had released from his flamethrower in their direction.

"Burn! BURN WITH THE LIGHT OF OUR FATHER!" The Cook shouted at the top of his lungs.

Morgan's jacket was set partially ablaze and he hurriedly ripped it off his body and threw it away. The Cook tracked Morgan and attempted to set him on fire next. Morgan had dropped his rifle and attempted to shoot The Cook with his 9mm, but his rounds were deflected by the pyromaniac's armor.

The pistol's slide locked back and Morgan released the empty magazine before fishing in his pocket for a full one. He found none.

"Oh, that's just great!" he shouted.

The Cook laughed manically. "Now your soul will be purified by the Father's blessed flame!" he ranted.

Morgan stood still from shock and terror as The Cook depressed the trigger of his flamethrower. However, to the surprise of both men, nothing but a pathetic puff of smoke came out.

The Cook looked at his weapon. Then he looked up at Morgan.

Morgan reached for his belt and withdrew his combat knife, mustered a war cry, and sprinted at The Cook. In response, The Cook removed the empty fuel tank and stuck a new one in place. As Morgan reached him, the cultist turned his flamethrower over and batted Morgan in the face. Morgan impacted the ground roughly, violently expelling the breath from his lungs.

The Cook laughed maniacally and finished loading his flamethrower.

"Now, sinner, where were we?" he taunted.

Before he could continue, he lurched forward. His expression of maniacal glee turned into a grimace of pain. The grip on his flamethrower loosened.

The Cook turned around slowly, revealing an arrow lodged in his left kidney.

Jess was standing there, her bow at the ready. She released another arrow, this one striking The Cook in the right shoulder. The Cook stared at her, fury in his eyes. Fury that turned to recognition.

"You!" he cried.

Jess sent one final arrow that went through his open mouth and cleanly pierced through the back of his skull. The Cook took one step forward, groaned, and fell, dead.

Morgan was rooted to where he fell as he watched Jess take her well-deserved revenge.

She walked over to The Cook's bloody corpse. Her face screwed into anger as she kicked him twice in the stomach.

"Rot in hell, motherfucker," she hissed before walking away.

Jess stood over Morgan and extended a hand. He took it and got to his feet.

"Wow. That was… something," Morgan.

Jess was not paying much attention to him. She had a blank look in her face and was looking off in the distance.

"Are you okay? We got the fucker!" Morgan added. He was expecting more of a reaction out of her.

Instead, she shrugged.

"Dutch was right… Cook's dead and I don't feel anything. All I ever wanted was to find this guy… and now, I don't… I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Jess shook her head and scoffed before continuing.

"Dutch's been right about a lot of shit lately. The cult. Eli. Maybe he's right about you too."

Morgan nodded in agreement. "The man's smart."

Jess folded her arms and shifted on her feet.

"You, uh, need someone to watch your back, call me."

"I might take you up on that," Morgan said. "You handled a bow like no one I've ever seen."

She nodded again. Morgan could tell she probably needed some time to process what had just occurred. She gave a final nod and began to walk away before stopping and turning to face Morgan.

"And, um, thanks. For everything you've done."

He gave a curt nod back.

"I'm just doing my part, Jess. Same as you."

She smiled softly and walked off. Morgan watched her leave.

"Well…" he breathed, surveying the scene. Broken bodies littered The Pit while several vehicles and trailers were on fire.

"That was interesting."

Morgan looked out at Jess receding.

"Well, it was fun meeting you, Jess," he muttered to himself, "but I think I'll let you do your thing. You're a little too crazy for me."

* * *

As Morgan finished recounting his story, Jess held her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"So, let me get this straight. You only helped me because you were afraid I was gonna kick your ass if you didn't."

"Yeah, basically," Morgan admitted.

"You're absolutely right. I would've," she said with a shrug.

As Morgan laughed she, rested her cheek on her hand.

"But I'm glad you did help me."

He smiled. "I'm glad you were there to answer my calls when I said I needed someone to watch my six."

"You know I'm always there to watch your back," she affirmed to Morgan.

Morgan took a sip of his drink to keep his smile from growing too wide. Jess knocked back the last of her own beer and slammed it on the table.

"Hey," she started as Morgan set down his drink, "you wanna go for a walk? It's really nice out tonight."

"Hm. Didn't you have enough walking today?" Morgan asked.

Jess had already stood up. She sighed heavily.

"Just come take a walk with me, Morgan," she implored, slightly annoyed.

He got up. "Alright, fine, don't have to ask me twice."

"Damn right I don't," she said they walked out the door together.

From her place at the bar, Mary watched the two leave and chuckled to herself.

* * *

Fall's End was quiet. The tiny town was usually some degree of quiet, so it would have been more appropriate to describe the streets of Fall's End as  _exceptionally_  quiet. A few lights were on in some of the remaining houses and a dog barked within one of them.

Morgan and Jess walked down Main Street in the middle of the road. It was not like they were in danger of becoming roadkill. Above them, the night sky twinkled with the lights of hundreds upon hundreds of stars. The air was cool, but comfortable. Just enough to be comfortable with the clothes they had on. It was the perfect night, to Morgan at least.

"You know, I know some people from school who moved to LA and New York. When I asked why, they all told me that they were tired of how quiet and unpopulated Montana was. They wanted… excitement, that's what they called it," Morgan told Jess.

He motioned up at the night sky.

"Honestly? I couldn't imagine giving this up. I can't imagine looking up at night and not seeing this," Morgan mused.

"I'm with you," Jess nodded in agreement. "I know it might be because I've lived here since forever, but if someone said 'hey, come live in my tiny apartment I pay 3,000 dollars a month for in a massive, smelly city full of shitty people,' I might have to give that a hard pass."

Morgan laughed. "I think this is why we get along."

"You know what they say- great minds think alike," Jess agreed.

They reached the edge of Fall's End, a walk that did not take very long, and headed out into one of the nearby fields. Morgan hopped the fence and offered his hand to Jess.

"Hey, I'm a big girl," Jess quipped. But she took his hand anyway. It was not like she actually needed help. Morgan just wanted to hold her hand for a moment.

Jess held on for a few seconds longer than she really needed to.

Together, they settled down on a gentle slope near a bushy oak tree. Morgan laced his fingers together and placed his hands behind his head before lying down, staring at the sky. Jess followed suit and looked over at him.

"So, uh, is this the part where you impress me with your knowledge of constellations and shit?"

Morgan shrugged. "No, actually. I have no idea what I'm looking at. It all looks the same."

"It's, uh, pretty," he managed.

Jess pointed up at a mass of undifferentiated lights in the distance.

"That one looks like a guy getting an arrow through the face."

Morgan laughed. "You really are special, you know that?"

"I try."

Morgan thought about it for a moment.

"Actually, I think it kinda looks like Peaches," he concluded.

Jess giggled.

"Peaches? Like your cougar?"

"Well, she's not  _my_  cougar. I give her treats and she just sort of follows me around and occasionally decides to take down a Peggie."

He turned to face Jess, who was grinning at his commentary.

"You and Peaches are similar. I give you treats, in this case people to kill, and you follow me around."

Jess cracked up, covering her mouth with her hands as she did so. Morgan could not help but smile broadly at just watching her being truly happy in the moment.

"Oh my God," she said before laughing more.

Morgan let her finish up her laughing, which took several seconds. After that, they lied together in a sort of easy silence while they stargazed.

"So, Morgan, do your folks know you're alright? I mean, the news of Eden's Gate and all the other shit that's been happening is probably national news right now," Jess said.

Morgan pursed his lips, unsure of how to respond to that.

"I don't think I've mentioned this to you, but they're gone."

Jess sat up on her elbows and turned to him.

"Wait, what do you mean 'gone?' Like…?" she asked, concern in her eyes.

"Shortly after I got the job here with the sheriff's department, my mom and dad were flying in his plane to Arizona. They wanted to see the Grand Canyon. Above southern Utah, their plane exploded in midair due to what the NTSB said was faulty wiring igniting the fuel," Morgan explained.

Jess looked at him and put a hand over her open mouth.

"Jesus, Morgan… I… I didn't know. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," she apologized.

Morgan shook his head.

"Hey, no. It's okay. I don't want to say I'm 'over it' or whatever. I want to say that I'm at peace with it. It happened. It was no one's fault. And that's that."

Jess exhaled and looked down at her feet. She did not know what to say.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up," she finally said.

"Don't be sorry at all!" Morgan protested. "Like I said, it happened. There's nothing I can do about it. All I can do now is honor their wishes and be the best cop this county has ever seen."

She softly put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, I certainly think you are."

Morgan smiled at her and nodded.

"That means a lot."

"Do you have anyone else in the family who would be freaking out about you being trapped in this place with Eden's Gate?" Jess inquired.

"No. Uh, my cousins and uncle and aunt live in New Jersey. Jersey sucks, so I don't go there."

Morgan hesitated, wondering if he should tell Jess more. He decided to with it. If he wanted to be with her, then he supposed that he could tell her about the not-so-nice things about his life.

"I had a sister. Cassie. She overdosed on crystal meth when I was in high school. That's really when I fully decided to become a cop. I didn't want anyone else's sister or brother dying to drugs or to gangs or whatever."

Jess nodded.

"Well, look, you ended up saving this entire county from an army of murderous cultists. I think you saved lots of sisters and brothers," she said.

Morgan shrugged. "People say that I saved them all from Eden's Gate, but like, I'm not Superman. It's not like I just destroyed them all while everyone else just watched. We all worked together and we did it together."

He looked off into the distance.

"Besides. I had help. I had Grace blowing away cultists from like, a mile away. Nick was there to drop bombs on their trucks and hideouts. Adelaide buzzing around in that stupid pink camo helicopter she likes. Boomer making sure there were no surprises when I was doing recon. Hell, even Sharky and Hurk helped. In their own way."

He met Jess's eyes again. "And I had you. The only person I ever trust to watch my back."

She looked away, her face turning a soft shade of red.

"I wouldn't want to watch anyone else's back," she said.

"You know, I'm pretty glad you met me now and not when I was back in high school," Jess continued.

"I went to school the next county over and man, I'm telling you, I was a total bitch. I ran with the wrong kind of people. I got into fights. Sold weed. I even set fire to the principal's car in senior year. But he was an asshole. So, he actually deserved that one and I don't really feel bad about it."

Morgan chuckled. "I'll take your word for it."

"My grandma changed me. I told you about her, I think. After she died, I came back to my parents I just apologized them for all the stupid shit I did when I was young, insecure, and felt like the world owed me something."

Jess licked her lips. She was looking up and seemed lost in the memories.

"I wish I had more time with them. Because Eden's Gate rolled in and… yeah."

"Like I said Jess, things happened and you can't do anything about them. All you can do is be the woman your parents wanted you to be," Morgan said.

"I like to think I'm doing the right thing."

"You are," he assured her.

"It's just that when they died, all I had left was Dutch. He kept trying to get me out of Hope, but I didn't want to. I wanted to fuck up the cult for everything they did. I thought Dutch was just getting in my way. He just wanted to keep me safe and I was just so caught up in what I wanted, I didn't stop to think about what the only family I had left wanted."

She nodded thoughtfully.

"I should go visit him and say sorry," she concluded with a nod.

"I think he understands, though," Morgan offered.

"I hope."

For a few more moments, they sat in silence, alone with the thoughts of their rather heavy discussion. Despite the subject matter, Morgan felt good about it all. He felt good having someone he could relate to and someone he could trust with what he normally chose not to talk about. He hoped Jess felt the same way.

"Hey, you wanna head back? I'm getting kind of chilly," she said.

"Sure. Let's go."

They got up and headed back out onto the road in silence. As they walked side by side, Morgan felt her hand slip into his. He was hesitant at first but locked his fingers with her own.

Morgan looked at Jess, who smiled softly back. There were no words. There did not have to be.

* * *

They let go of each other when they reached the Spread Eagle. Morgan expected Jess to head back to Grace's place, but she elected to walk with him to his modest living quarters.

"So, will I be seeing you tomorrow?" Morgan asked as he opened the door to his room.

"You know it," Jess said confidently.

"Great!" Morgan replied. "More of the same?"

"Come on, Morgan, you should have this as your routine by now. We wake up, go out, kill some Peggies, do some good, the usual."

Morgan nodded in agreement. "You're right. This is my life now."

"Get used to it," she teased.

Morgan stood at the doorframe while she stood outside.

"So, thanks for the drinks. And for talking. It was… good," she said.

"Yeah. It was. I had fun tonight," Morgan agreed.

"Let's do this again," she suggested.

"That's a great idea if I've ever heard one."

"Like I said. Great minds think alike," Jess said.

She turned to leave. "Goodnight, Morgan."

"Goodnight, Jess."

At first, she hesitated to leave, but turned and walked down the hallway after giving him a final smile.

Morgan closed the door to his room and tapped on the door a few times. He sighed and shook his head.

He enjoyed the time he spent with her but felt like he should have done more. Maybe try to kiss her? Would that have been too much?

As he unbuttoned his shirt and placed in on a hanger, he recalled what Mary told him.

_Guess I'll just keep at it_ , he thought to himself.

Before he could peel off his undershirt and get ready for bed, someone knocked at his door.

_Who could that be?_

Maybe it was Mary, finally evicting him. He had been freeloading this whole time after all. Or maybe it was even the sheriff and Morgan would have to do some actual police work.

He opened the door.

Jess stood there.

"Jess, what's up?" he asked.

Wordlessly, she swept forward and put both her arms around him before kissing him on the lips.

Completely taken aback, Morgan did not respond in kind at first and stared at her in shock. Despite this, Jess continued to keep her lips on his.

Soon, Morgan did what he had wanted to do for quite a while.

He closed his eyes and put both of his arms around her lower back. Morgan returned with his own kiss and soon they were both standing there, tangled up and making out.

After what seemed like hours, they broke apart, but refused to let go of each other. Her Caribbean Sea eyes gazed intently into Morgan's moss green eyes.

He was pausing to catch a breath she had completely stolen out of his lungs.

"Jess," he breathed.

Jess traced her left index finger around his jawline and pressed it to his lips.

"Shush. You talk too much," she whispered.

Without another syllable, Jess came back in for another kiss. She gently pushed him forward as she did so until they both crossed the threshold. Jess briefly interrupted their kissing to shut the door behind her and lock it.

With that, they resumed right where they left off. They kissed deeper and their hands ran all over each other, wherever they could find space. Morgan guided his hands over the shapely curves of her body and Jess settled for putting her own around his shoulders.

They stopped kissing simultaneously, instantly recognizing each other's unspoken language. Jess hugged herself close to Morgan, who in kind pulled her close to his chest. She placed her head on his shoulder and breathed out.

Not a word was exchanged. Neither of them wanted to break this moment.

Morgan could feel the warmth of her body pressed against his own. It felt good to just stand there and be together with her. To be close to another person. It had been quite some time since this last happened, but Morgan had never felt the way he did now.

She smelled like nature and earth. Not like leaves or dirt, no.

She smelled like the clean mountain air. Like the sky after sunrise. Like a warm summer night. She smelled like the things Morgan loved, things he looked forward to. Things he wanted in his life forever.

Their embrace was broken by Jess because she had other plans in mind.

Jess practically shoved Morgan onto his bed before jumping on top of him. As she straddled him, she leaned over and went for another kiss. In between the several intense moments of kissing, clothes began to fly this way and that. First his undershirt. Then Jess's shirt. Then her bra, which she threw in his face. Jess giggled as Morgan scrambled to get it out of his way.

Morgan was feeling many things in the moment, but he remembered his days in the criminal justice program in college.

"Wait! Wait, Jess," he exclaimed.

Jess, who was undoing her jeans, paused.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"You're sure you want to do this, right?" he inquired.

Jess's face broke out into a smile. She laughed and flopped down on top of him.

"What? What?!" Morgan frantically asked.

"You're so fucking sweet. That's what."

She got back up and finished taking off her jeans, which she tossed away.

"Yes. I very much want to do this."

He drank in her form, his head feeling heavy as he did so. Her body was toned and host to several small scars and old wounds. More stories written on her flesh.

Despite what many would call "imperfections," Morgan thought she was utterly perfect in every sense of the word.

_You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen_ , he wanted to say, but could only shout in his mind.

Morgan smiled. "That works for me."

She went to undo the zipper of his own jeans.

"Now please, shut up."


	5. Normalcy

In the low light of a simple upstairs room, the huntress and the deputy lay together in bed.

About half an hour earlier, after finishing their lovemaking, Jess suggested they go and take a shower together. Morgan was initially enthusiastic about the idea, but soon found that stuffing two people into the small shower stall was quite the experience. Maneuvering and attempting to clean each other was awkward, but it did not matter. They laughed, joked, and managed not to slip.

Now, they were back in bed. A bed Morgan did not want to leave. It was around eleven at night, but there were still people downstairs enjoying their Friday night. Morgan hoped no one happened to head upstairs as they dashed naked from his room to the bathroom and back.

They still did not get dressed. Jess said they did not have to go anywhere, so why should they? Morgan was inclined to agree.

Together they sat, tangled up in sheets and each other. Jess easily nestled up against Morgan. She was just the right size. Morgan had his left arm around her while his right hand messed with her hair. He could feel the pleasant sting of scratches down his back, having learned Jess was a very passionate kind of person.

They talked. Talked about nothing at all. All that mattered was that they were together in that moment, their bodies and minds entwined. Morgan did not want to close his eyes, for he was sure that when he woke, this would all turn out to be some very detailed dream.

Eventually, he started running his fingers over her body, asking about the various scars that crisscrossed her figure.

"How'd you get this one?" he asked as his index finger gently traced a crescent moon shaped scar on her stomach.

"There was this Peggie that I thought was dead. He wasn't. Ended up jumping up when I walked near him and stabbed me right there. I had to kick him in the face until he let go," she explained.

"Mmm. You're such a fucking badass," Morgan idly said.

She laughed softly before turning to face him. Jess leaned over and gently kissed him.

"I'm certainly glad you think so."

"So, what do you want to do tomorrow?" he asked.

Jess replied by resting her head on his shoulder and leaving a kiss on his neck.

"I really don't know. Maybe lay here."

"What? You don't want to go out and kill Peggies?"

"Oh, I do. But I want to be with you more," she replied.

Morgan laughed.

"Shit, I certainly feel special."

Jess grinned.

"You fuckin' better," she purred.

There were a few moments of silence as Jess snuggled against Morgan and yawned, indicating she was ready to drift off.

Morgan was feeling tired too. He had had a hell of a day. An absolute whirlwind of events had occurred that practically made his head spin as he tried to comprehend it. First, his heart pumped and adrenaline coursed through his veins as he and Jess fought for their lives against cultists. Then, his heart pumped for a different reason as he and Jess sat together, finding out about each other during what he could now confidently call his first date.

And then… this.

It was quite a day and one that Morgan had nothing to complain about.

* * *

He had not set an alarm, so he was awoken by the sound of birds outside. Morgan blinked, clearing the feeling of sleep from his mind. He was on his side, facing the far wall, which was illuminated like the rest of the room in soft morning light.

Immediately, he was thinking about what had occurred the previous night. A wild, frantic part of his mind was convinced he had dreamt it all. It would not have been the first time. Morgan turned over, half wondering what he would see next to him.

He turned and saw Jess's back to him. She was probably asleep, but she was there. Morgan could not help but smile at that.

This was not a dream. It was much better than that.

Morgan put an arm over her waist and leaned over, kissing her gently on the cheek. Jess replied by putting a soft hand on top of his own. Morgan could not see, but he was confident she was smiling too.

"Good morning," he said softly.

"Good morning, Morgan Rook," Jess sleepily replied.

"Did I wake you?" he asked.

Jess giggled briefly.

"Yeah, you did actually. Asshole."

Morgan laughed back.

"You're so romantic," he said.

"I have my moments," she teased as she sat up and faced him. She leaned over and kissed him on the lips. They kissed for several seconds, each feeling a bit more hot and heavy as they did so. But they mutually broke apart, probably not wanting to their simple "good morning" kiss to… escalate… so early in the morning. That would be for later.

"I wanted to wake up so I could see this handsome face again," she assured Morgan, running her hands over his cheeks.

Morgan smiled up at her.

"Man, that is not something I'd expect you to say."

She fell back over, laughing.

"Shit. Too cheesy?"

"Even for me, Jess."

"Whatever you say," she responded as she crawled over him and out of bed. Jess bent down and picked up her discarded clothes scattered all over the place.

"Dammit, where's my bra?" she fumed, looking underneath Morgan's jeans.

"Uh… try under the bed?" Morgan offered.

Jess walked over and looked underneath his bed.

"Oh, there we go," she said as she retrieved her bra.

"Next time we do this, make sure I put all my stuff together so I don't lose anything," she told Morgan.

"Will do."

"Alright, well, I'm gonna go and wash up. You can head downstairs and get some food if you want," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," he affirmed.

Jess smirked and rolled her eyes as she gathered up her clothes and turned to exit the room. Morgan sat back, admiring her butt as she left. Jess seemed to sense this and looked over her shoulder as she opened the door.

"Am I entertaining you?" she asked.

Morgan nodded. "Very much so."

She gave a suggestive smile and left.

Morgan laid back and stared at the ceiling for a few moments before he got up and began pulling on clothes. As he did so, he thought about everything that happened and every other thought that swirled through his brain.

As he dressed, Morgan pondered the one pressing thought on his mind.

Did he  _love_  her?

Or just "like" her a lot?

Sure, Morgan had been with women before. He had not had one in a while, but there had been other women in his life, however briefly they remained. But Jess was special. Very special.

The feelings he had for unlike anything he had ever felt. But was it really love?

Love was a complex emotion. Hard to define, hard to measure. And Morgan was certainly unable to define or measure what he could feel in this moment. He resolved to figure it out eventually. Either way, he was glad that everything happened as it did.

After he was fully clothed, Morgan came downstairs, where Mary was sitting on a barstool, looking at the screen of her laptop.

"Morning, deputy," she greeted, not looking up from the screen.

"Morning. What are you looking at?"

Mary waved for Morgan to take a seat next to her, which he did.

"We're famous," she chuckled while pointing at her screen, which showed the headline of an online newspaper. It read:

_FBI: Militant Cult Carried Out Reign of Terror on Remote Montana County_

And the subtitle read:

 _How could this have happened? Cult kills hundreds, takes over entire county as residents form militia to fight back_.

"Well, look at that," Morgan mused.

"Something tells me this whole country is gonna suddenly very aware of what was going on in Hope County soon," Mary observed.

Morgan settled in to read the article.

_Authorities are investigating how a heavily armed doomsday cult allegedly managed to completely take over a Montana county and kill hundreds of residents before being defeated by an armed militia._

_The cult, known as the Project at Eden's Gate, or Eden's Gate, operated in Hope County, Montana, where they existed in peace with residents for several years. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in early May, Eden's Gate embarked on a campaign of terror, where they used violence and coercion in order to force nonaffiliated residents to convert to their religion, which is based on an interpretation of Christianity. Eden's Gate's dogma purportedly believes that the end of the world is imminent and that it is their duty to save people by converting them to their faith and taking shelter in large underground bunkers._

_According to the FBI, open hostilities between cult members and locals began after a United States Marshal, Cameron Burke, attempted to arrest Joseph Seed, founder and supposed prophet of Eden's Gate, for suspicion of kidnapping. Seed, 44, believed this event to be prophesized as the beginning of the apocalypse._

_Eden's Gate also damaged various communications infrastructure in the region, preventing word of their activities from spreading beyond the region._

_Over the years, Eden's Gate managed to smuggle large amounts of illegal weapons and military hardware, including attack helicopters, mortars, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers, into Hope County. Eden's Gate also reportedly bribed officials and destroyed all land routes into Hope County in order to prevent anyone from exiting the county._

" _The Project at Eden's Gate was more than a religious movement. Joseph Seed used his followers as a private army," FBI agent Daniel Hanson commented._

_In response to Eden's Gate's hostile actions, local residents formed various loose militia forces, armed with personal weapons and stolen Eden's Gate equipment. According to the FBI, the local militia forces, headed by members of the Hope County Sheriff's Department, successfully waged a war against Eden's Gate over the course of two months._

_Joseph Seed was arrested by local law enforcement and given over to the FBI, where he remains in custody without bail._

_Seed faces numerous charges, including kidnapping, first degree murder, weapons trafficking, extortion, and possession of a controlled substance. A trial date is set for June._

_This story is ongoing and will be updated as events unfold._

Morgan read and reread the article before nodding.

"Shit, that's one way to condense what's been happening."

"Sure is. I guess we're famous now," Mary chuckled.

"Not exactly what I'd imagine Hope being famous for," Morgan said.

"I'm pretty sure most of us were planning to for Hope County to be overlooked by the rest of the country. Now everyone knows us," Mary remarked, sounding glum.

She sighed and picked up a coffee pot, serving Morgan a steaming cup of black coffee.

"Alright, Morgan. I need to take my mind off all of this. How was Jess?"

He paused before giving a response. Yes, Mary was his friend. But Morgan was unsure if he was ready to spill  _all_  the details right away.

"Oh, it was good. We had fun," he told her. That was the vague truth at least.

"Is that so? What'd you guys do?"

Morgan shrugged.

"Just like I told you. We had a few beers. We talked. Laughed. Fun time was had by all."

"Hm," Mary nodded. "You know, I didn't see Jess leave. Did she, uh, spend the night?"

He blinked twice, his expression betraying his inability to find the proper response. Mary smiled at this and looked on, waiting for what he would try to say.

"No, she uh, you know… you must not have seen her go. You know. She's all… stealthy and stuff."

At that moment, Jess came jogging down the stairs and scooted into the barstool next to Morgan. She was wearing his green flannel and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Hey, my shirt from last night got wet when I was washing up. So, I just borrowed one of yours, if that's cool."

Morgan wordlessly looked at Jess and back to Mary, who was leaning her head on the palm of her hand, looking rather pleased with herself.

"Good morning, Jess," she said pleasantly.

"Hey, Mary. Can I have some coffee?"

Mary whistled as she poured Jess her cup.

"Want any sugar?"

"Yeah, I'll take two cubes if that's okay," Jess confirmed.

Mary dropped two cubes into her cup and slid it over to Jess. Morgan stared at Jess.

"What?" she asked as she took a sip.

The door to the Spread Eagle was pushed opened by a new patron- Sheriff Whitehorse. The sheriff doffed his hat and nodded respectfully to Mary.

"Hey, sheriff! We've been missing you around here!" Mary greeted.

Whitehorse smiled and took a seat at the bar. Without even being prompted, Mary poured him a fresh cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I was missing here too. Sorry I missed out on the celebrations a few days ago. I've been talking to the feds nonstop. Every alphabet soup agency will be descending on Hope in the next few days. FBI looking into Seed and tracking how the fuck this ended up happening. ATF will be interested in the numerous illegal full autos and homemade explosives the cult stockpiled. DEA will be very interested in the Bliss. DHS looking into possible national security risks. The usual."

Whitehorse sighed and shook his head.

"We're going to be busy the next few weeks."

He turned to Morgan.

"How are you doing, son?" he asked as he clapped Morgan on the shoulder.

"Good as I can be, sheriff. Actually, better than I usually am," he replied.

Whitehorse nodded. "Glad to hear it. Listen, finish your coffee and come meet me outside. Pratt and Hudson are waiting. We all need to talk about a few things."

"You got it, sheriff," Morgan said with a nod.

"Oh, yeah," the sheriff began, reaching into his backpack, "I got something for you."

He withdrew a clean, plastic wrapped Hope County Deputy Sheriff uniform.

* * *

About an hour later, the 29 remaining residents of Fall's End met outside what had quickly become the unofficial town hall- the Spread Eagle.

Morgan, wearing his new uniform, stood in front of the Spread Eagle, behind Whitehorse. Next to him were Pratt and Hudson, along with a few others. Jess, Mary, and the others watched from the crowd.

Whitehorse had to crowd settle down and began to speak.

"Good morning, everyone. I hope you're all doing well. Now, as we all know, we've won. For the most part, anyway. Now that we've won, we can begin getting to work making things as normal as they can be."

"Hear, hear!" someone spoke up. Several people murmured their agreement.

Whitehorse let them settle down before continuing.

"Now, you are all aware that our mayor did not make it through this conflict. May God rest his soul," Whitehorse solemnly spoke.

There was a brief moment of silence for former mayor Virgil Minkler, shot dead by a Bliss-crazed Marshal Burke.

"First thing's first," Whitehorse began after their moment of silence, "Fall's End needs a leader to represent them. We need a new mayor."

"Why can't it be you, sheriff?" Mitch Calhoun, owner of the Fall's End general store spoke up.

"Because I'm the sheriff already, Mitch!"

Several people laughed.

"Besides," Whitehorse went on, "there's someone more qualified than me. I for one nominate Mary May Fairgrave for that job."

Mary laughed and looked around.

"Wait, sheriff, you can't be serious? Me?" she said incredulously.

Whitehorse nodded. "I'm very serious. Why wouldn't I be? During this entire thing, you held Fall's End together. Kept everyone fed and their spirits up. People have turned to you and you gave them the answers they needed- and you didn't even realize it. Frankly, I can't think of anyone else I'd want leading this town going forward."

She still looked like she was full of disbelief.

"Well, don't you have to vote for a mayor first?" she suggested.

Whitehorse turned to the assembled crowd.

"Everyone who is in favor of Mary being mayor, please raise your hand."

Everyone in the crowd, save for Mary, put up their hand.

"That settles it," Whitehorse told her.

She smiled sheepishly. "If… if it's what everyone wants."

Whitehorse smiled. "Everyone, let's hear a round of applause for Mayor Fairgrave."

The townsfolk clapped and cheered, while Mary stood there, looking half embarrassed and half stunned.

After the applause died down, Whitehorse continued.

"Now, on to the next order of business. The National Guard will be entering the county tomorrow. They should take care of the rest of the cultists still hiding out. I'm sure they will have other instructions for us when they show up, but this means we won't have to be completely on our own. Our tax dollars will finally be put to good use."

More laughter.

"The Army Corps of Engineers will also be in the county to repair roadways and infrastructure damaged during our little guerilla war. That means phonelines and radio will be fully restored to all. This also means that the Hope County Sheriff's Department will be able to get back on its feet and go back to our original job descriptions of protecting and serving the people of Hope County in a more traditional manner. We'll be operating out of the County Jail until a new sheriff's office is built in town. In addition to our existing deputies, I've taken the liberty of deputizing several individuals to help expand our reach and ability to respond effectively to crimes."

Whitehorse stepped back and allowed his deputies, new and old, to step forward.

"Now, in case you aren't familiar with these fine folks yet, allow me to introduce you," Whitehorse said.

"Staci Pratt," Whitehorse waved to the young man, who gave a reserved nod back to the crowd. He was the youngest deputy in the department and was still recovering from his time held captive by Jacob Seed.

"Josephine Hudson," Whitehorse introduced next. The attractive deputy stepped forward, giving a warmer greeting than Pratt.

"It should be noted that Deputy Hudson is most likely considering a name change due to the poor connotations relating to anything with the word 'Joseph' in it," Whitehorse joked.

The crowd and Hudson laughed.

"It's true. I'm open to suggestions."

"And of course, last but not least, Morgan Rook," Whitehorse said, waving Morgan forward.

Morgan was met with several cheers, which made him smile awkwardly. Jess blew him a kiss, which was subtle enough to be unnoticed by everyone save Morgan.

"Well, I can see who everyone's favorite is," Whitehorse commented whimsically.

Morgan tried to reply but could only shrug slightly. He was getting a large amount of attention lately. It just was not something he was used to.

"And now, I wanna introduce you to some new faces," Whitehorse continued.

"I'm sure all of you know Grace Armstrong. Our very own sharpshooter. Well, she volunteered to give the department a hand. My word of advice is to try not to run from her. You'll just die tired," Whitehorse said.

The crowd laughed at Whitehorse's dark comment while Grace stepped forward, giving a wave.

"Glad to be here, sheriff," she said.

"Now I want you to meet Hank Hooper, former fisherman who decided to take the fight to the cult after they Blissed his favorite fishing spot," Whitehorse said as Hopper, a middle aged Black man, stepped forward and waved.

"And…" Whitehorse paused before introducing the next new deputy, as if he was having second thoughts. He shook his head once and continued.

"I'm sure most of you know Hurk Drubman Junior. His father, uh, volunteered Hurk for this job, saying it would help him out."

Hurk nodded excitedly.

"Hell, yeah, sheriff! See, I was inspired by my main man Morgan, who kicks ass, I'm telling you, man. Deputy Rook is the coolest cop I've ever met and I wanna be just like him!"

Whitehorse nodded warily.

"Thank you for your enthusiasm, Hurk. I would like to let everyone know that I have informed Hurk that while my deputies have relatively free reign on what sidearm they chose to carry, a rocket propelled grenade launcher does  _not_  count as a sidearm."

"See, sheriff, I was just thinking that-"

"Moving on," Whitehorse interrupted, "we have Evangeline Hendricks, who some of you might recognize as the clerk who runs the Fall's End garage. Well, she found her true calling."

"Last but not least," Whitehorse continued, "Skyler Kohrs. You might have heard of her for winning the prize money for catching the  _very_ elusive General, along with Deputy Rook. Now, Skyler wanted to leave Hope County before the cult got to her, but she came back when we took down Joseph and wants to do her part in rebuilding her home."

The people clapped for the young woman, who waved and gave a little bow.

"Couldn't leave all of you behind to fend for yourselves, now can I?" Skyler said.

With the newly restructured Hope County Sheriff's Department fully introduced, Whitehorse called an end to the gathering. Morgan met with Jess and they both elected to take a walk around town.

"I've never seen you in your uniform before," Jess commented as she took his hand and held it by her side.

"Yeah. It's kinda weird. Everyone knows me as 'Deputy Rook,' but most people haven't even seen me wearing the uniform. I had to get rid of it while the cult was after me shortly after we tried to arrest Joseph."

"Well. I think you look very handsome in it," Jess complimented.

"Which is really saying something," she added. "I hate wearing uniforms."

Morgan laughed and shook his head.

"Hey, you're not wearing it."

"That's probably for the best," she said.

As they rounded onto a road branching off Main Street, they found the sheriff talking to a pair of people. Morgan recognized them as the Caldwells, a married couple in their late 30s.

As Jess and Morgan walked by, they caught their conversation.

"You don't need to just pack up and run, Lou," Whitehorse told Louis Caldwell.

Louis sighed and shook his head.

"Sheriff, I know that the cult is all but gone, but me and Emma have been thinking… we just can't stay here after everything that's happened. We were thinking of moving for a while, but all this made the decision easy."

Morgan saw that they were putting various boxes into an overloaded SUV. Fall's End was about to get tinier.

"I have family in Helena that we can stay with for a bit. Me and Lou have money saved up, so we'll just buy a new place. Maybe in Arizona. It's warm down there," Emma Caldwell explained.

The Sheriff sighed and folded his arms. "Well, I can't stop you. Do you need help packing?"

Lou shook his head.

"Thanks, sheriff, but we're about done."

"Alright, then."

Mary, noticing the conversation, came over.

"You guys getting out of here?" she asked the Caldwells.

Emma gave a sad smile.

"Yeah, Mary, looks like it."

"Well, I wish you the best then," Mary sympathetically told them.

"Thank you, Mary. Thanks for everything," Emma said as she embraced Mary.

Morgan, Jess, Mary, and the sheriff watched as the Caldwells closed the trunk to their SUV, said their last goodbyes, and pulled out of the driveway.

"Wait!" Mary called before Lou could speed off. "What do you want us to do with the house?"

Lou shrugged. "Don't know, don't really care. It's not worth anything anyway."

He put his SUV into gear and peeled off down the road.

"Looks like this place needs to update the welcome sign. What are we down to now? 27?" Jess commented.

Mary nodded thoughtfully.

"What should we do with their place?" Morgan asked.

Mary looked at him and back to the now vacant house. It was a standard, one story ranch. Nothing particularly fancy, but cozy in its own right.

"I have an idea. As my first act as mayor, I say that Morgan Rook is the new owner of this house," Mary stated proudly.

Morgan stared at her and smiled.

"Wait, no, you don't have to…"

"Morgan, do you want to stay in the guest room upstairs forever? Or would you prefer a place that doesn't have drunk people singing along to the jukebox at one in the morning?"

"I-"

"And besides," Mary began, briefly looking at Jess, "I think you'd like somewhere with more privacy."

"Alright, fine," Morgan grudgingly conceded.

"I thought so," Mary said smartly.

She began to walk away. Sheriff Whitehorse nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, you heard our mayor. Make yourself at home. And make sure you report to the county jail by nine tomorrow."

Morgan smiled.

"Will do, sheriff."

Whitehorse smiled back and clapped Morgan on the back.

Jess was already making her way inside.

"I guess we're moving in together!" Morgan commented.

She paused.

"Do you… not want me to?"

"What? No! Of course, I do!" he blurted as he strode up to the front door to her.

Jess responded by leaning over and giving him a soft kiss on the lips.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

"How nice of them to leave us dinner," Jess snarked as she picked up a box of instant mac-and-cheese left in the Caldwell's pantry.

Morgan nodded approvingly. "You know, I could actually go for some mac-and-cheese."

Jess gave him an amused look.

"Really?"

"What?" he groaned.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. I just think it's funny that Morgan Rook, the badass cultist hunter, wants some mac-and-cheese."

Jess leaned down and adopted a faux motherly tone.

"Is there anything else I can get you, sweetie?"

Morgan laughed and got up and swept over to her.

"Hey, why don't I show you?" he began before grabbing Jess in a tight hug and pulling her close.

Jess laughed and struggled to escape as Morgan fought to keep her in his arms. After a minute of squirming, laughing, and name calling, Jess ended up leaning back against the kitchen counter. She put her arms around Morgan's neck and went in for a kiss, which Morgan gladly returned.

They broke apart, their faces still close together.

"Why don't we eat your mac-and-cheese and then we can take care of what I've been thinking about all day?" Jess suggested in the kind of tone that made it readily apparent to Morgan what she was thinking about.

* * *

"You know Jess," Morgan began as they cuddled together in their new bedroom, "it's not very professional going to work at a sheriff's department with hickeys all over my neck."

"Can you seriously not worry about that? Just button up your shirt all the way, no one will fuckin' see 'em," Jess replied.

"I could always just stop doing that…" she added a moment later.

"No, it's fine. I'll just cover it up," Morgan quickly replied.

Jess chuckled. "Good answer."

Silence settled over the room for a few minutes. Morgan thought about getting to sleep as he had a big day ahead of him the next morning. Instead, he decided to get something off his mind.

"Hey, Jess?" he asked.

"Mhmm?"

"So… I was thinking."

"About?"

"You're okay with us going public with this, right? Like, if someone asks me, I can totally say 'yeah, me and Jess Black are a thing."

"'A thing?' We're 'a thing?'" Jess said while chuckling.

"I mean… yeah."

"Well, Morgan, I'd be very offended if you did not tell people we aren't 'a thing.'"

"Okay, good. I just wanted to make sure."

Morgan thought for a moment and wondered if he should get another questioned answered.

"So, what are we, Jess?" Morgan asked.

Jess sat up and looked straight at him. Even in the low light of their bedroom, Morgan could tell she was giving him an expression that was equal parts confused and equal parts "you're fucking kidding, right?"

"What?" Morgan whined.

"Morgan. We've had sex two times. We kiss a lot. We eat meals together. And now… we're living together."

"Yeah, that's true, but I'm just trying to define this relationship."

She groaned.

"Look, I'm not a huge fan of labeling things like this. But, I think it's safe to say I'm your girlfriend and you're my boyfriend."

Morgan smiled. "Really?"

Jess fell down onto her pillow, a chuckle escaping her.

"Jesus, Morgan, this isn't very hard!"

"No, I know, it's just that-"

Jess twisted her body to face him and interrupted him by planting a soft kiss on his lips.

"What did I tell you about you talking too much?" she whispered.

"I-"

She cupped his left cheek with her right hand.

"Morgan. I like you. A lot. And I'm hoping you feel the same way at the very least. I don't want you to worry about labels and what this and that means. You and I are together and that's that. That's what matters, I think. You and I doing our thing the only way we know how."

Morgan nodded.

"Okay," he conceded gently.

"I like you a lot too. I have for a while," he told her.

"Oh yeah? So, all those times I was walking ahead of you and you lagged behind you were checking me out?"

"Yeah," he admitted with a chuckle.

"God, men are disgusting," Jess mumbled as she snuggled up closer to him.

"Except you. You're okay."

Morgan kissed her on the top of the head.

"I'm glad I have your approval at least," Morgan said.


	6. Back on the Job

Morgan's alarm went off at 7:30 in the morning, causing him to lazily roll over and pick up his phone. He snoozed the alarm and immediately flopped back down on his pillow.

"Alright, well, looks like I need to get back to my original job description as sheriff's deputy," he said to Jess, who did not reply.

Morgan looked over to his right and saw the spot her form should have occupied was empty.

He got up and pulled on his jeans and undershirt.

"Hey, Jess, you around?" he called.

"Out here!" she replied from the kitchen.

Morgan walked out into the kitchen and attached dining room, where Jess was serving a plate with two slices of buttered toast on it accompanied by a bowl of cereal.

"Good morning," she greeted as she strode over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Uh…"

"Your lunch is on the counter here- don't forget it," she instructed Morgan as she poured out two glasses of orange juice.

When Morgan did not take a seat and begin eating, she paused what she was doing and looked up at him.

"Well? Are you planning on eating? I didn't burn the toast, which is a major fuckin' accomplishment, and I'm telling you right now that shit isn't going to waste," she told Morgan.

"Jess… you don't have to make me breakfast or anything like that," Morgan protested.

She laughed.

"Well, I  _know_  I don't have to. If you expected me to do all sorts of 1950s housewife shit, I'd probably kick your ass."

She sat in the seat across from where Morgan's breakfast was set and took a sip of orange juice.

"But, have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, I do these things because I want to do them for you?" she said matter-of-factly.

Morgan shook is head in amazement. When was the last time someone made him breakfast?

He took his place across from her and began to eat.

Contrary to what Jess said, the toast was a little burnt.

* * *

After breakfast, Morgan washed up and put on the rest of his deputy's uniform. Jess watched him begin to button up his shirt before coming over and pushing his hands away so she could button it up for him.

"I'm serious when I say you look really fucking handsome in this thing," she purred as she buttoned the last button.

"I'm serious when I say you look fucking gorgeous in anything you put on," Morgan replied.

"I bet you say that to all the girls," she countered.

"Most girls don't look hot as fuck when they're wearing a hunting jacket and holding a bow and arrow," Morgan said as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her into him. Jess responded by putting her arms around his neck and leaning up to receive a kiss Morgan was more than willing to give.

"So," Jess grinned after they broke apart, "you don't have to leave right this minute. You want a quickie? You know, something to remember me by while you're out patrolling or whatever."

The offer was tempting, but Morgan shook his head.

"Mhmm, that would be nice, but I'm afraid I just won't go to work if I take you up on that. How about I wait until later for the full package?"

Jess kissed him again.

"That sounds like a plan."

Morgan left their bedroom and Jess followed to see him off. He picked up his bag, holstered his pistol in his brand-new duty holster, and grabbed the paper bag that contained his lunch, a sandwich with some venison cutlets.

At the door, Jess gave him a tight hug.

"Have a good day. Be careful. I won't be there to save your ass," she said.

"I'll find a way," he replied.

"If you get hurt, I'll fucking kill you," she whispered into his shoulder.

"I'll make sure to watch my back then," he said before kissing her on the top of her head.

Morgan pushed open the door of his new house and stepped out. Jess watched as he got into the truck he had liberated from a prepper's stash and backed out of the driveway. He waved to Jess, who waved back, and headed off for the county jail.

* * *

Morgan arrived half an hour early and was surprised to see several patrol cars and trucks parked in the jail's parking lot.

_Thought the cult took all of those_ , he thought to himself as he parked and got out, making sure to grab his things as he exited his truck.

There was no activity outside, but Morgan was surprised to find people had arrived earlier than him. The lobby of the jail had been converted to something resembling a bullpen, while a rudimentary dispatcher's room had to been constructed in another room.

Morgan had been in the jail numerous times during the war against Eden's Gate. But it felt completely different without the numerous wounded lining the halls and without the smell of sweat, blood, and odors of dozens of people crammed into a relatively small space.

The sheriff was there, as was Hurk and Grace. Whitehorse was familiarizing the two new deputies with the ins and outs of police work when he noticed Morgan enter.

"Ah, there he is. Glad to see you got here okay, Morgan. We're just waiting for Skyler now and we should be good," Whitehorse said.

Morgan nodded. "It felt good actually going to work for once. To be able to drive and not get shot at while doing so."

"Feels good, don't it? We all had a part in that," Whitehorse said, addressing Morgan, Hurk, and Grace.

"I noticed that we had some patrol cars and trucks outside. I was under the impression Nancy handed everything we had over to the cult shortly after it all went down," Morgan commented.

"Yeah… well, let's just say I had a few friends secure some stuff for us before Seed and his merry band of fuckers showed their true colors," Whitehorse replied knowingly.

Hurk clapped his hands once and cheered.

"Alright, sheriff! Thinking ahead! That's how we do it down here!"

"Indeed, Hurk," Whitehorse said.

Skyler pushed open the door to their makeshift bullpen, where she was greeted by the others already there.

"Hey, everyone! Hey Morgan!" she greeted happily. The former fisherwoman seemed quite excited about her new career.

"Sheriff, you said we can bring our own guns, right?" she asked.

Whitehorse nodded. "Within reason. As long as you don't think a Desert Eagle is a perfectly sound choice of sidearm, you're free to carry any kind of handgun you'd like."

"Cool!" Skyler exclaimed.

She took a seat next to Morgan.

"Check out what I bought with all that money you helped me get when you caught the General!"

Skyler withdrew a brand-new Heckler and Koch USP .45.

Morgan nodded approvingly.

"Very nice."

"Shit, that's nice gun, girl!" Hurk exclaimed as he whipped out his own pistol, a chrome-plated Kimber M1911.

"My daddy says the Colt is the pinnacle of handgun development. Everything after it was a mistake," Hurk explained.

Since he did not want to be left out, Morgan drew his Browning.

"Well, Hurk, I'll have to disagree. For me, the Browning Hi-Power is one of the greatest semiautomatic pistols ever made. Sure, there's more modern designs available. But there's just something about these things I like."

"Hm, it must do something. I saw you shoot lots of Peggies with that thing no problem!" Hurk concluded.

He turned to Grace.

"What about you, Grace? Whatcha carrying?"

Grace drew a Beretta 92FS.

"I carried an M9 in Afghanistan. Figured I shouldn't change it up too much and just got myself the civvy variant."

"Good choice," Morgan complimented.

Whitehorse cleared his throat.

"Now that we've familiarized ourselves with everyone's sidearms, why don't we get familiarized with how to go about with police work?" Whitehorse said.

Hurk sat back.

"Hell yeah, sheriff, I'm ready to go and catch some bad guys!"

Morgan had to admire the man's enthusiasm.

* * *

After Morgan left, Jess fixed herself some bacon and cereal for breakfast. She decided to sit outside on the porch as it was a particularly lovely day.

Outside, Jess idly sat back in her chair as she sipped her drink. The remaining residents of Fall's End were doing much to restore the sense of normalcy that had been sorely lacking. The makeshift barricades around the town and the mounted M2 Browning on the roof of one of the buildings were both taken down. The National Guard would be making an appearance and would hopefully do much to squash the remaining cultists.

The people of Hope County had held their own against the cult and were proud of the fact they did so all by themselves without the government noticing until it was over. A part of Hope County collectively told themselves they did not "need" the government to swoop in and save the day.

But, at the end of the day, everyone just wanted to get go back to living normal lives. They were tired of taking turns patrolling the roads for hostile cultists and having to go everywhere with a rifle by their side.

Well, then again, most people did that already. But still. There was something different about carry a weapon with the knowledge you might very well be using it as opposed to carrying a gun for the  _just in case_  kind of scenarios.

After the months of misery the cult managed to wreak upon Hope County and its residents, the idea of normalcy was welcomed with open arms.

However, Jess often thought to herself that there was no way things could just go back to the way they once were. Life before the rise of Eden's Gate was a distant memory. So distant, Jess thought it belonged in some sort of alternate reality. She had been fighting the cult the last three years of her life, often times alone.

As she munched on the last piece of bacon, a sudden realization washed over Jess, something that she was surprised took this long to come up.

She would not be fighting the cult anymore.

That was done. She would no longer be stalking the woods, dropping Peggies one-by-one. She would no longer silently enter the perimeter of a cultist outpost with Morgan, silently taking each one of the cult's guards down before anyone could notice.

She was done with the fighting. The killing.

Jess never really imagined what life would be like after the cult was gone. A part of her felt that she would die before the cult was defeated. That, or, they would never leave.

In all honesty, Jess never thought about a life beyond fighting the cult. There was her life before the cult- being a menace to society in high school, fighting with parents who "didn't get" her, running away to her grandma, getting molded into the woman she was today, and returning home to say "sorry" and make up for all the times she let them down.

Then, they died. Her brother disappeared shortly after that. After that, it was nothing but hunting and killing and blood and violence. She gave little thought to what would happen in the mythical "after." Jess simply focused on putting arrows through the heads of cultists. She took it one day at a time.

And now it was "after."

What now?

Killing Peggies was her calling. Now, she would not be able to do that anymore. There would not be a reason to do that anymore.

"What now" indeed.

In that moment, Jess felt something knot up in her chest. The realization that the one thing that defined her life was now gone.

Jess picked up her plates and glass and went inside. She washed up the tableware and headed off to the bathroom to wash up. Instead of sitting around and moping, Jess decided it would be better to go and do something. It was nice out, anyway.

Jess dressed in her standard fare and grabbed her bow and arrows. As she walked out onto Fall's End's main street, she could see several people out on the streets, staring at something off in the distance. Jess stopped and squinted to see what they were looking at it.

The shapes were unclear at first, but it quickly became apparent what they were.

A few minutes later, a column of National Guard vehicles drove into Fall's End. There were several armored personnel carriers, Humvees, and troop trucks. The vehicles were painted either olive drab green or desert tan.

A door opened on one of the Humvees and a guardsman strode out, flanked by two other troops.

He wore a cap with a gold oak leaf pin indicating his rank as major. A nametag on his Universal Camo Pattern ACU identified him as Sutton.

Major Sutton nodded curtly at the assembled townsfolk who watched him and his men disembark from their vehicles.

"Good morning, folks. Who's in charge here?" he asked.

Mary stepped forward.

"That would be me."

Major Sutton stepped forward and offered his hand, which Mary shook.

"Major Francis Sutton, Montana Army-National Guard," he introduced.

"Mary May Fairgrave, mayor of Fall's End," she said back.

"Pleased to meet you, mayor. My men and I will be securing your county against, uh, what do you call them…"

"Peggies?"

"Yes! Peggies! That's the term," Major Sutton exclaimed.

"We're glad to have your help, Major Sutton. It's a real relief for everyone in the county," Mary told him.

"It's a hell of a thing, what you people have been doing. I read the brief synopsis about your conflict with Eden's Gate and I must say, you folks did things that would make the Viet Cong jealous."

Mary smiled. "We don't take too kindly to fanatics telling us to 'convert or die.'"

Major Sutton smirked back.

"As you should not, mayor."

He turned and pointed to an abandoned two-story house.

"With your permission, I'd like to establish a command post in that house over there. And since the Third Amendment is still in effect, my men will be establishing a forward operating base outside of town. We'll conduct patrols of the area and respond to any on going insurgent threat."

"Permission granted, Major," Mary nodded.

"Great. Thank you for being so accommodating," the Major respectfully replied.

"Thank you for coming out to give us a hand. A lot of people probably won't admit it, but they're grateful for getting this off their mind."

"Happy to help. Now, if you excuse me, mayor, I just want to address your people."

Major Sutton turned and stepped forward so the residents of Fall's End could all see him.

"Folks! My name is Major Francis Sutton, 208th Regiment, Montana National Guard. We will be here to help clear out the remains of your Peggies, as the mayor as helpfully informed me they are called. We will try to make our job as unobtrusive as possible and only ask that you just keep clear of any ongoing Guard operations and follow any instructions given to you by a Guardsman, should the need arise. But I don't anticipate that being a problem. Just keep doing your thing, folks. We got this covered."

A few of the townsfolk looked suspicious, but most everyone cheered and clapped. In reality, everyone was tired of fighting and glad that they could take it easy now.

"Mayor," he nodded before getting into his Humvee and departing. The rest of the National Guard vehicles trundled out of Fall's End soon after.

Talking amongst themselves, the residents of Fall's End scattered to resume their daily tasks. Mary saw Jess staring at the departing vehicles pensively.

"How you doing, Jess?" she asked.

Jess shrugged.

"We could've used them a few months ago. Well, not me. I was doing fine by myself."

Mary laughed.

"Most people are not you, Jess."

Jess gave a whimsical shake of her head.

"Sucks for them."

"Maybe things will get back on track to being somewhat normal," Mary said in a hopeful tone.

"You really think everything will just go back to normal? After all of this?" Jess asked, doubtful.

"We can try to make it normal."

Jess was about to add another cynical comment when she stopped to think for a moment.

_Normal_.

What did that mean?

Did that mean settling down, getting a 9 to 5 job, having a few kids?

Jess hated kids.

She thought about Morgan. What was "normal" to him?

As she thought, she had visions of a life with him. There were disjointed scenes in her head of her and Morgan out hunting, hiking, and camping. There were visions of the two of them jumping into a lake on a hot summer day, both of them silently laughing as they splashed water in each other's direction. Jess also envisioned quiet nights laying in bed, their hands firmly locked together. Another vision had Morgan driving his truck down an empty highway with the mountains flanking them as Jess looked out of the window, feeling the sun on her face and the wind sweeping through her hair. There was also a vision of her and Morgan standing together in a little country church, before an alter…

"Jess?" Mary asked, breaking Jess out of her reverie.

Jess blinked. "Huh?"

"Are you okay?" Mary quizzed.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I, uh, have to get going," Jess hastily replied.

She walked off. Mary shook her head and smirked before turning to head back to the Spread Eagle.

* * *

Deputies Morgan Rook and Grace Armstrong were in the midst of their first patrol of the Henbane River. Morgan was driving the Sheriff's Department marked pickup while Grace rode shotgun, or more appropriately rifle as her custom AR-10 sat in her lap. She stared out at the idyllic landscape beyond.

"See anything?" Morgan asked, already knowing the answer.

"Nope. Not a damn thing," Grace replied. She sighed and adjusted herself.

"This reminds me of Afghanistan. Standing around and staring at nothin' for 12 hours."

"You should be used to it then," Morgan chuckled.

"Well, I am. Doesn't mean I particularly enjoy it."

Grace drummed her fingers on the windowsill of the rolled down passenger's side window.

"Is every patrol like this?" she inquired.

"Pretty much," Morgan started, "as much as I experienced anyway. I only had a few weeks under my belt when Burke came in trying to arrest Seed. But something tells me that this is, in fact, the standard."

"Well, it feels good to have a normal job to do again," Grace commented.

"Yeah, I feel that. I'm glad I can go back to doing actual cop things," Morgan said.

Grace shifted to turn on the radio.

"I need some music."

"Go for it," Morgan encouraged.

Grace turned the volume of the radio up, only to hear one of the cult's hymns playing.

"Man, who is still broadcasting this shit?" she grumbled.

"I'm actually okay with this. Gotta hand it to the Peggies- their songs are pretty damn catchy," Morgan said.

Grace looked at him in amusement.

Morgan found himself tapping along with the song on the radio.

"Oh John, oh John, bold and brave, he's finding us a family, he's teaching us the faith…" he started to sing along almost involuntarily

He stopped when he saw Grace looking at him oddly.

"What?"

She leaned back in her seat, laughing and shaking her head.

"Jesus Christ, Morgan. Looks like they ended up getting to you."

"Yeah, well, it's not my fault John had such a catchy theme song!" Morgan defended himself.

"He's still an asshole," Grace said.

"He was an asshole, yeah. The man had some great songwriters, though," Morgan replied.

Grace shook her head and scoffed.

"I'm changing the channel."

"Hey! I was listening to that!" Morgan protested.

"Oh, shut up, Rook," Grace laughed and switched to the local alt rock channel.

"Whatever. This is okay too, I guess," he grumbled.

A few minutes later, Morgan made a gentle left, past a scenic overlook. Grace pointed at a picnic table that was set up close to the small gravel parking area.

"Hey, it's a little after twelve-thirty. You want to eat lunch?"

Morgan's empty stomach spoke for him. "Hell yeah."

He pulled over and parked the car. Morgan and Grace stepped out, stretching as they did so.

"I can't feel my butt," she complained as she shook out her arm.

"Me neither. Let's eat," Morgan agreed.

They sat down across from each other on the picnic bench. Morgan withdrew his brown bagged lunch while Grace produced a meal, ready to eat.

"An MRE? Haven't you gotten tired of those things?" Morgan asked as Grace slipped the prepackaged meal pouch into the included flameless heater.

Grace shrugged. "Figured I get rid of the ones I have before I start eating normal food. Besides, these things keep you going all day. And they're convenient."

"Do you at least have a good flavor?" Morgan remarked.

"Beef ravioli. My favorite!" Grace proudly proclaimed.

"I'm more partial to shredded beef," Morgan said.

"Shredded beef looks like shit. Literally," Grace opined.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't really matter what it looks like. I really care about how it tastes," Morgan countered.

He held up his sandwich.

"Regardless, I don't have to worry. I have food made this decade."

Grace rolled her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Rook."

Morgan took a bite of his sandwich.

"Damn, that's good," he said between bites.

"Did Jess make you that?" Grace asked coolly.

Morgan paused mid chew.

"Did she, uh, tell you?"

Grace nodded.

"I heard the short version."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. She was staying with me, after all. A couple days ago, I see her packing up her stuff. She told me that you two are moving in together."

"Well, that's true. I got a new house from Mary. The Caldwells moved out."

Grace smiled.

"You know… I may have a few… concerns, let's say, but I'm happy for you guys."

Morgan chuckled and nodded. "Thank you, Grace. I appreciate that."

"You two made a fucking amazing team back when we were fighting the Peggies. When I was rolling with you and Jess, I could tell that  _something_  was going on."

"Is that so?"

"You bet. Like, you two would always be looking in each other's direction and pretending you weren't. Damn. I felt like I was third wheeling half the time," Grace chuckled.

"I'm sorry I made you feel that way!" Morgan laughed. "Believe me. This relationship between us is new. Very new. But… so much has happened in just a week. I don't know if I should slow it down or whatever."

"Do you want to slow it down? Reexamine things?" Grace asked.

Morgan shook his head. "No, I really don't want to 'reexamine' anything. I'm pretty firm in what I want. This isn't a one-night stand that I'm 'catching feelings' over, as the kids would put it."

"Do you love her?" Grace inquired softly. She asked in a firm, but understanding manner, as if she knew what Morgan's reply would be.

Morgan opened his mouth, but only exhaled.

"I-"

He paused again, putting down his sandwich and looking off thoughtfully over Grace's shoulder into the distance.

"I think I might. Honestly. I think I _am_ in love," he ended up settling with.

"I don't think I need to tell you this, but that's not something you just say 'I think I do' and call it a day," Grace said.

"No! No, you're right. I know."

"I know I'm right. So, what are you going to do?"

Morgan was unable to give an answer once more.

"Maybe think about it. I'm sure I do love her, it's just… I don't know. Expressing it properly is something I have a hard time doing."

"I do know I enjoy having her around! That's for sure. She's everything I could have ever wanted from a woman," Morgan added a second later.

"You're a good man, Morgan. Jess deserves you. You deserve each other," Grace softly responded.

"But take the time to understand what you're feeling. Pray on it. Ask God for help, if you need it."

Morgan gave a thoughtful nod. "I might have to," he told her.

"But I think this is good. For both of you. And I'm happy you two are happy."

Morgan had to laugh briefly.

"I'm happy all this has happened too."

* * *

Half an hour later, Morgan was back on the road, Grace still observing the outside from the passenger's seat.

"Still nothing, Rook," she listlessly told Morgan.

"Right. I imagined nothing had-  _shit!_ "

Morgan slammed on the breaks as a man seemed to suddenly appear from the brush at the side of the road.

Morgan, Grace, and much of their gear shot forward as Morgan rapidly bought the truck to a stop. The man was bloodied, wearing a stained wife beater and blue jeans.

"Wait! Hey! Help me!" he frantically cried, waving his arms.

Morgan and Grace got out of their truck, hands on their sidearms.

"Sir, are you okay?" Morgan asked.

"Oh, thank God!" the man cried. "Deputy, you have to help me! My girlfriend- we got in a car crash and went flying off road. She's unconscious!"

He began running off the way he came.

"Come on! Follow me!"

Morgan looked at Grace.

"Stay with the truck."

"Hell no. I'm covering you," she answered.

"Alright, fine," he said before running after the man.

After a minute of slamming through the undergrowth, Morgan, Grace, and the bloody man came to what was indeed a crash site. A white compact had careened off road and slammed into some low trees.

"Dispatch, looking into a possible auto accident off of Morris Road," Morgan spoke into his portable radio.

" _Copy, Morgan. Where are you exactly?_ " the new dispatcher, Jenny Graham, asked.

"Uh… Grace? What part of Henbane is this?"

Grace shrugged. "Let me go back up to the road and get my bearings."

She began to walk back to the road.

Morgan rounded to the passenger's side door and looked inside.

There was no one there.

"Uh, sir, where's your-" he began as he turned around.

The bloody man was pointing a revolver at Morgan.

A second man had emerged from behind a tree and thrust a shotgun in Grace's face. He wore the red ski mask of a Chosen.

Morgan's hand was on his holster.

"Don't try it, sinner," the bloody man hissed, his finger on the trigger of his gun.

About eight more Eden's Gate fighters emerged from their hiding spots, guns trained on Morgan and Grace.

"Oh, shit," Morgan managed to mumble before someone butted him in the back of the head with a rifle stock.


	7. Search and Rescue

Although Morgan took the truck, Jess was never one to drive around. It was too easy to be heard and spotted rolling around in one. Besides, she preferred walking.

And why not? Hope County was beautiful. Jess was sure if heaven was real, it would probably look like Hope.

The day was a perfect one- just around 71 degrees, with a few puffy clouds lazily floating in the clear blue sky. She walked through the woods to her favorite hunting ground in Holland Valley, a walk she had undertaken innumerable times in the past. The soft light of the sun filtered past the treetops to warm her skin. Jess was at home in the woods. They were more of a home to her than any house she had lived in.

It was quiet, as usual, and the quiet gave Jess plenty of time to think about what had been happening. And there was quite a bit to ponder.

The end of the cult's reign of terror.

The rebuilding of Hope County.

An end to the months of war and death.

And Morgan.

Morgan, Morgan, Morgan.

She found herself thinking of the junior deputy more than anything. It was hard not to.

Jess bounded over a fallen log, briefly wondering what Morgan was up to in the moment. Although she enjoyed hiking and hunting alone, she wished he was with her, even though he usually crashed through the forest, scaring away any animals. She had grown used to and fond of his company by her side.

Jess resolved to get some hunting done first and then relax to ponder the thoughts filling up her mind.

A few more minutes down a trail and Jess reached a clearing, which basked in the warm sun. The sight of the familiar area bought a smile to her face. While still walking, Jess bought her bow to a ready position and nocked an arrow.

It did not take long for her to spot a rabbit, blissfully lounging in the middle of the clearing. The animal did not notice Jess creeping up to get a good shot. She had been hunting for years and had a knack for getting the drop on all matter of woodland creatures.

One arrow was all it took. The rabbit did not even have time to thrash. Jess strolled over and picked up her kill.

 _You'll make me some cash,_  she thought as she examined the rabbit's pelt.

She squeezed the rabbit's fat haunch.

 _And you'll be lunch_.

* * *

Jess made her way out of the clearing and down the trail. She could hear the sound of the river down at the end of the trail, gently flowing as it had for as long as she could remember.

She walked down the soft incline, ending up on the clear bank on the edge of the river. Without wasting a moment, she set own her gear and got to work. Jess field dressed the rabbit, stripping off its pelt to be sold later, clearing out the guts, and setting aside the tender meat for lunch.

A few minutes in the woods was all it took to procure materials for building a fire. She arranged two thick pieces of wood into a V shape before putting pine needles and dry moss in the center. A single match was all it took to light up the dry materials. As she waited for the fire to build up, she skewered several pieces of rabbit onto some sharpened sticks she bought along for that very purpose.

Jess sat down, crossed legged, taking off her jacket due to the strong heat being thrown off by the cooking fire. All she had left to do was periodically turn the stakes around to make sure her bits of rabbit were evenly cooked. This monotonous task gave her time to think.

The cult was gone.

A few stragglers were clinging to existence in the mountains and forests, but for all intents and purposes, the Project at Eden's Gate was on life support. She had become quite good at killing Peggies, but Jess knew that her stalking around with a bow was nothing compared to the holy hell the U.S. military would bring down on the cult.

Her days of hunting them down were over. Sad, really.

She would have to hang up her bow and do something else with her life. But what would that be? Her life revolved around hunting and killing the Peggies. She had barely had time to begin life before the cult rolled in and took away everything she had.

For the past few years, she had been living off-the-grid and never worried about having bills to pay or any sort of normal things people worried themselves with.

Normal. That word kept popping up.

Now that she was with Morgan, she supposed that she would need to contribute. Since contact with the outside world had been restored, the people of Hope County would be getting their tax forms, utility bills, mortgage notices, rent notices, and whatever else needed to be paid. All part of that whole "restoring normalcy" part.

Morgan had a somewhat sizable amount of cash on hand- loot from prepper's stashes and spoils of war from the cult's safes. But by no means was he a millionaire and he would probably be relying on his paycheck from the Sheriff's Department more often than not. Hope County was not New York City, however, and it did not take a six-figure salary to live here comfortably. Hell, Jess was basically homeless during her war with Eden's Gate and she did just fine.

But now, she had a home, with Morgan. A place to go home to everyday. She was happy for that, but she did not want to be a burden. There was no way she would let Morgan go out and work for twelve hours a day, potentially risking his life, while she spent the day wandering around in the woods. No. She would do her part.

A wild thought briefly flashed through her mind that told her Morgan would leave her if she did not pull her financial weight.

She almost laughed at that a moment later. She liked to think she knew the deputy very well and knew for a fact that there would be no way he would  _ever_  do that. Still, she would do what she could because she wanted to.

Now, that begged the question.

 _What the fuck do I do?_  Jess thought as she turned over a sizzling rabbit thigh.

She had a high school degree she barely earned. Her late teens and early 20s were spent on her grandmother's property, learning how to survive when the world was against you. She returned and shortly after… the rest was history. Jess never saw herself at college, even before Eden's Gate, nor did she ever see herself working a job and getting yelled at to do work by someone else.

Whatever.

 _Cross that bridge when we get to it,_ she said in her mind as she began to take off the rabbit meat from the stakes.

She placed the savory meat on the plate of her mess kit and used one of her knives to both cut it up and stick pieces into her mouth. Jess washed down the meat with a soda she bought from the house.

Eventually, she migrated over to the riverside and sat down on a rock in a sunny spot right next to the water. As she ate and drank, Jess thought several times about how she wished Morgan was here with her. She could picture him standing at the water's edge, casting his fishing rod to hopefully catch some of the bass she saw jumping about in the water. He would unsuccessfully do so, which led to Jess making several comments questioning his fishing ability. Morgan would vigorously deny her claims, of course, but he often was unable to prove her otherwise.

Her thoughts of Morgan occupied her for much of her meal. These past few days, he was at the forefront of her mind.

And why not? He was an amazing man. Unlike anyone she had ever met- and she meant that.

The last time Jess had a boyfriend was when she was 19. Austin. From the next county over. What a piece of shit he was, in hindsight. He cheated on her multiple times and Jess decided to not even give him one final "fuck you" before running away to her grandma's land.

When Eden's Gate took over and her parents died, Jess thought of little else than killing Peggies and disrupting their operation. She never desired companionship and the most she ever did was the occasional one-night stand to scratch the itch that occasional afflicted her. She never bothered to pursue any of those guys, nor did they bother to pursue her. Not that it bothered her.

It was easy to say someone was "different," but Jess truly believed she knew what that meant. Morgan  _was_  different, in all the right ways. He was sweet, kind, humble, and gentle. But at the same time, he was resolute, tough, resourceful, and willing to go to hell and back for the people he called his friends.

When she met him, Jess had to admit she was not particularly impressed by his abilities. He stumbled through the woods, altering every Peggie and wild animal in the whole county while she attempted to keep a low profile. But, he was definitely skilled. And Jess could respect that. She offered her help because she figured if they were both out there raising hell for the cult, it would not be a bad idea for them to put their skills together to further that objective. She half did not expect him to call her up again. But, he did.

And she was so glad he did.

Their new relationship had been a whirlwind of a romance, but Jess had to admit this was something a long time coming. The bond they formed during their time out fighting the cult was a bond forged under fire. They came to know each other very well. They saved each other's lives more times than Morgan or Jess could possibly count.

It did not take long for Jess to start becoming attracted to the deputy. It was a little something at first, but it only grew and grew over time. Jess was a master of maintaining the stoic façade she wore so well, so Morgan did not know this. Or did he?

Like most attractions, it started physically. Morgan Rook was _really_  fucking handsome. She thought so anyway, but she would readily fight anyone who disagreed.

He easily could have been in Hollywood in another life. Jess was honestly surprised that he did not already have girls fighting over him, with his rugged features, beautiful green eyes, and thick, dark hair that was just made for her hands to rake through.

She was fairly confident he could have had any girl he wanted. But he chose her. Of all the people, her.

The more she got to know him, the more she realized how this man was someone who only comes around once in a lifetime. When her feelings for him began to move from "companionable" to "something more," she tried to suppress them. Jess had not felt anything for a while and was happy that way. Feelings were  _gross_. They got in the way of doing her job. Try as she might, however, her increasing feelings of attraction were not going away.

As she and Morgan traveled Hope County together and fought side by side, she realized that she should be embracing those feelings. Especially when she realized that Morgan listened.

When she talked, he listened.

When she ranted, raved, screamed, and cursed, he listened.

The mere fact that he listened to all the things that swirled around her brain set him apart from all the boyfriends, all the hookups, all the other men she knew. He listened because he saw her as his friend, his companion. And he listened because that's just who he was. When Jess realized she could talk to Morgan about anything and never have to conceal her thoughts, she told herself he was indeed what she was looking for.

Sure, maybe to some onlookers, their relationship was something that was going too far, too fast. But, any naysayers would be basing that solely on what they perceived. They hardly knew the full story and how all this was just a culmination of feelings building just under the surface.

On their first date, as Jess was now terming it, she was impressed by just how well-mannered and reserved Morgan was. He was supremely respectful and kept his hands to himself unless otherwise prompted. At the end of the night, she was almost disappointed he did not try to kiss her at first. She would have gladly accepted his kiss had he tried. But, Morgan being Morgan, was probably keen on not putting forward any unwanted advances. So, as she was walking away, Jess decided maybe it was up to her to be a little more proactive.

Speaking of, the sex was  _amazing_. That's the only way she could describe it. Morgan was very good at what he did. Maybe it was because he was naturally talented, but maybe it was because it was more than just about sex. For her and Morgan, it was about being close with someone they truly cared about. And that made it beautiful and an experience that was more about feeling good.

Jess finished her lunch and put out the fire she made. Packing up her things, Jess resolved to try and bag a wild hog and have some barbecued pork ready for when he came home. As she hit the trail to track down signs of wild hogs, she wondered what Morgan was doing. Maybe he was thinking of her right now, too.

* * *

Grace looked over to Morgan and gave a look that said  _how the fuck are we gonna get out of this?_

Morgan attempted to give a look that said  _I'm working on it_.

The Peggie escorting Morgan shoved him forward unnecessarily, causing Morgan to almost stumble and fall onto the dirt.

"Keep moving," the cultist growled.

"I'm fuckin' moving," Morgan snapped back.

The rope the Peggies used to bind his hands behind his back was rough, itchy, and cut into his wrists. Any attempt to loosen it only seemed to make it tighter. Morgan looked around to examine his surroundings and try to spot some sort of landmark. It was fruitless. They had been escorted deep into the woods, far away from the road and any sort of civilization. Morgan was able to relay that he was on Morris Road, but with Morris Road being one of the longest roads in Hope, it was barely a start.

How long would it be until people started looking for him? The Peggies took their radios and phones, of course, but Jenny would hopefully start asking questions when he or Grace did not respond to radio checks.

They descended down an incline in the trail and came to a large clearing. Several tents were set up to form a makeshift cultist outpost. A few crates were scattered around and a single Eden's Gate technical with a mounted machine gun was parked by the largest tent. A handful of Peggies milled about the camp, bringing the grand total of cultists to around 15.

The Chosen, who was leading the party, stepped forward and manhandled Grace and Morgan to the center of the clearing. Morgan heard an engine and saw a cultist swinging into camp behind the wheel of the Sheriff's Department truck he and Grace were driving.

After a moment, he cultists dispersed into a semi-circle around Morgan, Grace, and the Chosen. He took in his followers, as if to make sure they were paying attention to him.

"Well. Here we are. Two of our most wanted sinners," he spoke, motioning to Grace and Morgan.

"I'm surprised how easy it was to capture you two. You and your friends think we're done. No. We're only done when the Collapse comes," he went on.

The Chosen rounded the two deputies before coming back to standing in front of them.

"Jacob was right. You and your kind have too much compassion for the weak and useless. All it took was one of my men in a bloody shirt and a sob story to get you walking right into our hands," he went on.

Morgan scoffed.

"Well, unlike you fucking psychopaths, we help people, not rant about 'purging the weak' and carry out whatever fucked up campaigns of Social Darwinism you guys are so fond of," he said.

The Chosen chuckled once before slamming a knee into Morgan's stomach. Morgan collapsed onto a single knee, gasping for breath as the Chosen grabbed him under the armpit and hauled him back to his feet.

The cultist reached into his holster and drew Morgan's Browning pistol, which he had confiscated earlier.

"You're right. We are  _so fond_  of purifying the world of those that take up space and resources. It's for the good of those who choose to be strong."

He looked over Morgan's gun.

"I will say this, sinner. I like your gun. I'll hang onto it."

"Don't get used to it. I fully intend to take it back when I kill you," Morgan shot back.

The Chosen turned over the pistol and whipped Morgan across the face with the grip. Morgan shouted and fell down on his side, his cheekbone stinging in pain.

"Motherfucker!" Grace growled as she attempted to rush forward but was retrained by two cultists.

The Chosen waited for Morgan to get back on his feet.

"I can't wait for you to try," he sneered.

Morgan sighed and shook his head.

"Alright, listen, what's your name? You fuckers all look the same in your stupid masks," he said.

The Chosen stared at him for a second.

"If you really want to, you can call me Bradley," he replied.

"Okay, Bradley. Let me ask- what exactly is you plan here? You just gonna beat the shit out of me all night? Or do you have some other scheme in mind? Because I'd like to know that you assholes have at least some other cunning plan in mind."

Bradley turned to address his people.

"You all know who this man is, right?" he asked.

"It's the deputy!" someone said.

"And what has he done?" he added.

"Killed Faith!"

"Killed John!"

"Murdered Jacob!"

"He murdered our brothers and sisters!"

Bradley nodded.

"Correct. And he and his own friends arrested our Father. Joseph remains right now in the hands of the heretics, awaiting whatever indignity they will bring against him. But we- we are going to bring our Father back so we may march to the gates of Eden together!"

As the cultists cheered, Morgan laughed humorlessly.

"And how exactly are you going to do that? You and your fellow Kool-Aid drinkers gonna assault the FBI or something? With what? A few baseball bats, some ARs, and a pickup truck?"

"We have you," Bradley replied simply.

Morgan blinked.

"Uh, what? What do you expect me to do?"

Suddenly, Bradley drew his knife and stuck it under Morgan's chin. He pushed the tip of the blade just enough into Morgan's flesh to draw a bead of blood. Morgan's heart leapt at this, but he stood his ground, staring into Bradley's eyes with intensity. He loudly inhaled and exhaled, trying to calm his churning stomach.

"You know, Joseph told us that we need to hate the sin, but love the sinner," Bradley intoned calmly.

He applied a bit more pressure to his knife, drawing more blood.

"But you know what, deputy? I  _hate_  you. I hate you and everyone who follows you. Nothing in the world would please me more than to make your friend watch me gut you. But, because I love the Father and he loves me, I'm not going to do that. No. What I'm going to do is let the government know I have you and Armstrong. And I will give them a simple request. Give us back the Father so we may resume preparing. If they don't- I'll kill you very, very,  _very_  slowly and livestream it. Then I'll ask again. If they do not give Joseph back, I'll do the same to your friend. And if nothing happens then, I'll find more people and do it again and again."

Despite the man's threats and the knife pressed into his jaw, Morgan laughed.

"You really have gone off the deep end. What? You think the government is going to release a cult leader back to his followers because you try some sort of discount redneck ISIS tactics? Is that it? Besides, I'm really not that valuable."

Bradley withdrew his knife from its place and took a step back.

"You don't have much faith in your government."

"I really don't," Morgan confirmed. "But, I have faith in the fact that the US government will respond to terrorist actions in an American state with 'quick and decisive action,' as they would say. You know, the National Guard is on its way. They're probably here already, in fact. You ready to tangle with the military? And they're not even the 'real' military, by the way."

It was Bradley's turn to laugh. "Oh, the mighty US military. They have their tanks, their bombs and their planes, sure. But they lack faith. They lack what we have. Purpose!"

"Let them come," Bradley concluded.

Morgan sighed.

"Fine. Fine, you want to go through with this shit? I'll tell you what. I'll go along with this. You can have me recite whatever sort of propaganda you livestream to YouTube or LiveLeak or your Facebook page or whatever. But you let Grace go. I'm the chief sinner, right? I saw all the wanted posters you put up of me all over the place."

Bradley clicked his tongue. "I admire you wanting to sacrifice for your friend. But, I can't let that happen. If I let her go, she will go and run to the military and just generally be a pain."

He turned and began to walk away. "Put them in separate tents. I want to prepare our demands. Go."

The cultists fanned out and both Morgan and Grace were manhandled away from each other by their guards. Morgan was led to a large green canvas tent, where he was shoved inside. He cursed under his breath and settled down on the floor, figuring he would be there for a while.

A second later, the tent flaps opened again. Bradley led a female cultist inside.

"Guard him. Try not to kill him if you can help it," he commanded before leaving.

The young woman nodded and shifted the AR-15 in her hands. The rifle looked much too large for her.

Morgan looked up at the cultist and was surprised to see she was barely a woman. She looked no older than 20. The white sweater and brown cargo pants she wore were stained, dirty, and ill-fitting. Her unkempt, filthy looking red hair was tied up in a loose bun. She stared down at Morgan with hollow looking eyes set into a pale face. The girl looked like she had been abusing substances of some sort in the past. It was the kind of look he had seen before.

"How- how old are you?" Morgan asked. It was a genuine question. Was Eden's Gate recruiting and fielding what were essentially child soldiers?

She scowled, unwilling to answer at first.

"Old enough," she snapped back after a minute.

"Right…" Morgan mumbled.

The cultist looked off at the far wall of the tent.

Morgan settled back into a more comfortable position.

"So, what's your name?" he asked.

She ignored him.

"I'm Morgan. You might know me as 'the deputy.' Or maybe 'him.' Your friends call me that too."

"Shut up!" she barked, swiveling the barrel of her rifle over him.

"Okay, then," Morgan mused.

There were a few moments of silence.

"How could you?" she asked a moment after.

Morgan shook his head in confusion.

"Could I what?"

"Kill them all. John. Jacob. Faith. All my brothers and sisters!" she spat.

Morgan gave a light shrug.

"Look, I never wanted to kill anyone. But I wasn't given much of a choice. You and your people started this, by the way."

The young cultist frowned. She did not have a retort to that. Maybe she realized he was indeed correct. She decided to simply scoff and turn away from him.

"I'm not talking to you," she hissed.

Morgan sighed and stared at the ceiling of the tent.

After what seemed like two or more hours, Bradley pushed open the tent flaps and entered. The female cultist and Morgan looked at him.

"Alice, bring him out," he ordered.

The young woman, who Morgan now knew was Alice, walked over and roughly hauled Morgan to his feet. She poked him in the back with the muzzle of her rifle.

"Move!" she demanded.

"Okay, yeah, I'm moving," Morgan replied as he walked forward.

They walked out into the camp, where Bradley lead them to a hastily erected backdrop featuring an Eden's Gate flag hung between two tentpoles. A camera sat on a tripod before this scene.

"Stand here," Bradley commanded, motioning to a spot in front of the flag.

Morgan shuffled over to the indicated spot. Bradley walked over and cut his bindings with his combat knife. After this, he produced a piece of paper and shoved it in Morgan's face.

"When I tell you, you're going to look into the camera and read what's on that paper," he instructed.

Morgan scoffed.

"Why would I do that?"

Right on cue, a cultist pushed Grace forward and stuck a pistol to the base of her skull.

Morgan licked his lips.

"Okay," he seethed.

* * *

It was nearing four in the afternoon, and Jess tore through the backroads of Hope on an ATV with a fresh hog corpse lashed across the back. She preferred not to use anything with a motor but hauling the fat hog all the way back to Fall's End was a major pain the ass. So, after bagging one of the wild hogs like she intended to do, Jess borrowed an ATV from a resistance checkpoint, a few of which still existed around the county despite the arrival of the National Guard. They all knew her, so it did not take much to convince them.

Besides, she had one more place to go.

With the wind causing her hair to billow behind her, Jess tore across the bridge leading to Moore Island, which, in recent times, had come to be colloquially known as "Dutch's Island" due to its chief inhabitant. Richard "Dutch" Roosevelt, local Vietnam veteran, distruster of big government, paranoid survivalist (one of them), and Jess's last living relative.

She slowed down the ATV as she eased up the dirt path to Dutch's out-of-the-way bunker. Jess killed the engine and dismounted, walking to short way to the grey steel door in the ground. Bending down, she slammed her fist on the door, producing a hollow metallic  _thud_.

"Dutch! You down there? It's me, Jess!" Jess yelled, hoping her voice would be able to carry through the layers of metal and concrete Dutch surrounded himself with.

After a pause, she heard someone walking to the door.

"Jess who?" Dutch warily called from down below.

Jess snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Jesus Christ," she mumbled.

"It's  _me_! Your fuckin' niece!" she yelled.

She heard Dutch chuckling.

"I'm fucking with you, Jess. Come on down!"

Cursing under her breath, Jess opened the heavy door and slid down the ladder. She turned to see Dutch standing there, hands on his hips and wearing a shit eating grin.

"You're such an asshole. How many Jess's do you know?" she snapped as she walked over.

"Just you, sweetie," Dutch chuckled as he embraced her.

Jess could not contain a laugh as she hugged him back.

"Damn right!"

They broke apart, Dutch smiling softly as he looked her over.

"Damn, I think you've gotten taller," he observed, "and added a few more scars."

Jess grinned and gave a shrug.

"Scars, definitely. Taller? I don't think so."

"Well, either way, come on in. You want a beer or something?" he offered.

Jess nodded.

"Sounds good."

They walked together into Dutch's spartan kitchen. He retrieved a pair of beers from a fridge and served one to Jess, who thanked him and popped open the cap.

"I must say, this is quite out of the ordinary," Dutch said as he sipped his drink.

"Yeah, I know," Jess replied with a hint of regret in her tone.

"What brings you out here then?"

Jess pursed her lips. She suddenly felt awkward for visiting, since this was more than just a social call. For a moment, she considered putting off the subject she wanted to touch on for a later date.

 _Fuck it_ , she thought. A later date may not ever end up happening.

"I don't know," she said, "I just haven't seen you in a while. Now that we've taken down Seed and most of his fuckin' fanatics, things are starting to look… better. I figured I should just make an appearance, see how you were holding up."

Dutch nodded. "Well, I appreciate that, honey. I've been good. Fucking Peggies haven't shown up in a while, so I can start breathing easy again. I heard the National Guard came in. That means the rest of the government will be swooping in soon enough. Can't say I'm so happy about that."

Jess laughed.

"Eh, well, can't win 'em all. Just try to not give them a reason to arrest you."

"I'll try, Jess. No promises, though."

As they both took a sip of their drinks, Jess took a moment to transition into what she really wanted to say."

"So. I was thinking a few days ago," Jess started in a serious tone, one that got Dutch to put down his beer and focus on her.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

Jess nodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine. It's just… remember when my mom and dad died? And… I came to you?"

He nodded once, remembering the moment just as clearly as Jess did.

"Right. Uh, that was before the cult shut everything down. You were ready to drive me out of there that night. You had shit all packed up and ready to go. You were talking about friends you had, places I could lay low. And… you remember what I said to all that, right?"

"Well, specifically, you said… 'I want to fucking kill 'em all.' Or something to that effect."

"Yeah. And I know that's not what you wanted. And I'm sorry," Jess concluded in a truly sincere tone.

Dutch smiled softly and shook his head.

"Ah, Jess… you don't have to say sorry for that. You were never one to back down from a fight. Never one to let someone else tell you what to do or live in fear."

"But, I was thinking about that and I just realize now how unfair that was to you. You just wanted to make sure I didn't get myself killed. Instead, I just said 'fuck you' and ran out to go fight the cult," she replied.

Dutch leaned back and shook his head again.

"Was I scared when you grabbed your bow and headed out? Yeah. How could I not? You were the only family I had left. But then I heard and saw what you could do. How you had those Peggies  _scared_  of you! I knew that this is what you were meant to do. Who was I to tell you otherwise?"

Jess scoffed.

" _You_ were the last family I had left. And I didn't give a shit what you had to say."

He simply shrugged.

"It doesn't matter what I felt back then or what you did. What matters is that we're here, and we've won. And I know your mom and dad would be proud as hell of you."

Jess looked down and exhaled, feeling shame well up in the pit of her stomach, despite Dutch's reassurances.

"I… I'm just sorry, Dutch. For all the shit I've probably given you over the years."

He got up and gently hugged her, a hug which Jess immediately returned.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. You never have to say sorry for anything you do."

"I just wanted to get that off my chest. It was bothering me."

"That's fine. I'm glad you wanted to talk about it."

Dutch let go of her and picked up his beer.

"Now, since that's out of your system- why don't you tell me what you've been up to? And finish your beer, too."

Jess raised her bottle and took a swig.

"If you insist."

"You still rolling with the deputy?" he asked.

Jess smiled knowingly, realizing she should probably break the news to Dutch.

"Oh, yeah, of course!" she affirmed.

He grinned.

"I heard you two make a good team."

"We do. He's back on the job, too. As a deputy, I mean."

Dutch nodded.

"Well, good for him! He's a good kid and among the few cops I actually like."

She laughed, remembering Dutch's somewhat frequent run-ins with the law due to his affinity for stockpiling weapons, explosives, and general disdain for government.

"So, this might come as a bit of a shock, but," Jess began, "me and Morgan are… together."

Dutch nodded, obviously not understanding what "together" meant in this context.

"Why would that be shocking? Is he around right now? I didn't see him."

She shook her head and giggled.

"No, no, Dutch! We're, uh, in a relationship."

He leaned forward, almost dropping his beer. Dutch's eyes went wide as he processed the words he had just heard.

"You- he's your boyfriend now?" he blurted.

Jess gave a proud nod.

"Yep."

"And how long has this been going on?" Dutch asked, still sounding shocked.

"Oh, just a few days."

"Shit. Well, I can't say I was expecting to hear this," Dutch said unsurely.

Sensing his tone of voice, Jess said "What's wrong? I thought you actually liked him."

"Nothing's wrong!" Dutch defended.

"Are you sure?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's just… you haven't had a boyfriend in a while and…"

"I know I haven't. But this one, this is a man I wanna keep around."

Dutch still looked quite unsure of himself.

"Well, as long as you're happy Jess. That's what I care about. Good luck with it. Morgan is a good man, and I suppose that's all I can ask for."

She smiled.

"Thanks Dutch. Hey, I'm gonna get going. I have a fresh hog I need to get field dressed for dinner tonight."

They both stood up and Dutch walked with her to his bunker's exit.

"Nice seeing you, honey," he said as they hugged.

"I'll try not to be a stranger so much. Thanks for listening, too," she told her uncle.

Jess clambered back up the ladder and Dutch heard an ATV start and depart.

He sat back down at his kitchen table to finish his beer. After a few minutes, he picked up his handheld radio and tuned it to Morgan's frequency.

"Hey, kid, when you have a minute, can you come drop by the bunker? I wanna talk to you about something."

Releasing the call button on his radio, Dutch sat back and waited for Morgan to reply. The deputy did not call back, which was odd, considering his usual punctuality.

Well… Jess did say he was back on the job. So maybe he was just busy. Maybe.

* * *

"Morgan, you there?" Jenny Graham spoke into her headset. Sheriff Whitehorse leaned over her shoulder, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.

When Morgan did not reply, she tried again.

"Grace, this is dispatch, you there?"

Static.

"That's the fifth radio check they've missed," Whitehorse observed.

"Maybe their radios are off?" Jenny offered.

Whitehorse gave a firm shake of the head.

"No. That's not like Morgan or Grace."

Jenny exhaled, worried. Whitehorse was just as worried but did not let this on to the young dispatcher.

"Sheriff… do you think something could have happened to them?" she asked.

It was not something he wanted to consider. But at this point, it was looking quite likely.

"Shit. I don't like this," he mumbled.

* * *

After she field dressed her kill, Jess went inside her and Morgan's house to change out of her dirty, blood stained clothes. As she dropped her jacket and pants into the washing machine, she wondered how long it had been since her outfit got a real wash as opposed to being dipped in a river for a bit.

She changed into a grey tank top and black running shorts- not her usual outfit. As she looked herself over in the mirror, she did not recognize herself looking so… casual.

 _I do look cute though. Morgan would like this,_  she thought to herself as she examined how the shorts showed off her long legs, toned from many hikes and from hauling ass away from Peggie patrols.

Without further delay, Jess went outside to begin grilling. Morgan would be coming home at seven and she was determined to have a fresh meal waiting for him.

 _Look at you. Cooking for a guy. This is something new_ , a part of Jess mused as she turned over the succulent pork cooking on the grill.

 _Yeah, it is, isn't it? If you told me a few months ago I'd be doing just that, I'd say you were crazy. But… I think I can do this for Morgan_ , another part of her inner voice said back.

She hummed as she cooked and eventually began tossing fully cooked slabs of pork onto a waiting platter. There was plenty to go around. Maybe Mary would take some to serve for dinner tonight.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a grey blob. Turning, Jess saw Boomer sitting still, his ears perked up. The Blue Heeler stared at her expectantly.

"What do you want?" she asked Boomer.

He cocked his head and licked his chops.

She chuckled.

"I think I know."

Jess grabbed a piece of fresh-cooked pork and threw it to Boomer. He bounded up and immediately began to chomp nosily at his food.

"Only because you're so adorable," Jess sighed as she turned back to her grilling.

A few minutes later, Mary walked up.

"Hey, Jess!"

Jess looked up and smiled.

"Hey."

"You cooking dinner?" she asked.

"You bet," Jess replied while removing another porkchop from the grill.

"So, how's Morgan?" Mary inquired, leaning on the fence.

Jess giggled.

"I take it he told you?"

She gave a knowing smile in reply.

"Eh, you can say I sort of figured it out."

Jess smiled back. There were few things a bartender did not pick up on.

"Well, he's very good, I'll have you know."

"Glad to hear it. You guys are… so goddamn cute," Mary said.

Jess had to laugh at that.

"Us? 'Cute,' you say? That's the word you're using?"

Mary laughed as well.

"It's the best word I got right now! I mean, I just think you guys just work so well together."

Jess nodded.

"That we do."

She motioned over to the growing pile of porkchops.

"Say, you want some of this pork? It's more than me and Morgan will eat."

"It smells good. I'll definitely take some to the bar. Maybe I'll give the major and his men some dinner too."

Speaking of, a man in a camouflage ACU came sprinting down the street, coming to a stop in front of Mary, who turned to face the man.

"Mayor Fairgrave, Major Sutton wants to speak to you, please," the guardsman informed her between breaths.

She nodded.

"Okay, then. I'll be right there."

The man nodded and sprinted back to the National Guard command post.

"Wanna come with?" Mary offered.

Jess shut off the grill.

"Why the hell not?"

After a brief walk over to the command post, Mary walked through the open front door with Jess behind her.

"Major, you wanted to see me?" she called out to the officer, who was clustered around a laptop with several of his men.

He looked up.

"Mayor! Come over here, please- you need to see this."

A few of the guardsmen hovered near Jess, unsure if they should remove the civilian or not.

"She's with me," Mary told them.

The men looked at Sutton, who gave a brief nod. They sat back down in reply.

Mary and Jess walked over to the laptop and saw a video was playing. A cultist stood front and center, his hands folded behind his back. He wore the distinct mask of the Chosen, as well as the padded camouflage overcoat.

"This guy just went live a few minutes ago on a couple different sites. The FBI helpfully informed us of it. He just started by saying that he has demands and he has some of your people," Sutton explained.

"Wait, he has hostages? Who?" Mary asked.

Sutton sighed. "We don't know yet."

They turned their attention to the man on the screen.

" _The US government must immediately release Joseph Seed from their custody. We will not rest until this happens. We are meant to march through Eden's Gate, but we must have our Father leading us. And we will do whatever it takes to ensure this._ "

On the screen, the cultist leaned forward and pointed at himself.

" _If you do not believe me, why don't you hear it from one of your own?_ "

The Chosen motioned for the camera to pan right. It settled on a bloody, bruised Morgan, his face screwed into barely contained rage. He was breathing heavily and looked as if he was ready to pounce on the cameraman, but something was keeping him restrained.

Mary's hand went up to cover her agape mouth at the sight of Morgan.

"Oh, my fucking God," she whispered.

Jess felt her heart skip a beat and her breathing quicken.

"No, no, no…" she croaked as she shook her head and stepped back.

"They fucking got Morgan! Those fuckers!" Mary raged with such intensity she caused several Guardsmen to jump.

"Morgan, no,  _please_ …" Jess implored to his image.

" _Read it_ ," the Chosen ordered Morgan.

Morgan briefly looked off camera at something before looking down at the paper in his hands.

" _My name is Morgan Rook. I am a sheriff's deputy. I was responsible for murdering the Father's family before handing him over to the serpents. I am a sinner. I have committed acts against the Father's children and for that, I deserve to die. But, I also know that the Father's mercy knows no bounds and I have been assured that my worthless life will be spared if Joseph is returned to his flock. I am also here with Grace Armstrong, another enemy of the Project whose sinful existence will be spared if the Father is released. Please, if you wish to see me live, release Joseph to his people._ "

His tone barely wavered above uncontrolled anger. It was clear he was being forced to take part in this charade and that Grace's life was probably in danger.

Morgan's murderous gaze turned to the Chosen as he finished the prepared speech. The camera panned away from the deputy and back to his captor.

" _You have heard our demands. You know what must be done. We will be awaiting your reply. If we do not have your assurance that the Father will be released seven at night_   _tomorrow, I will absolve these two sinners of their sin through the only way I can_."

He held up a knife to the camera for emphasis.

" _Death_."

The stream cut to black. The mood in the room was heavy and quiet.

Jess, of course, was the first to speak.

"They got Morgan and Grace! We gotta find those fuckwads and kill them before they hurt them!" she yelled, obviously ready for action.

Mary nodded furiously.

"Major, you need to get your men out there, find Morgan and Grace and-"

Sutton put up his hands.

"Whoa! Mayor, wait. I can't just have my entire regiment running around in the woods looking for your people. I want to help, but we can't just go blindly searching-"

Jess walked up to him, shoving past a few Guardsmen.

"My best friend and my  _boyfriend_  are out there being held hostage by them cult fuckers! I am not going to let them be at the mercy of those fucking zealots for any longer than they have to!" she shouted.

Despite being shorter than the major, Jess got in his face and managed to cause him to retreat in shock at her furious words.

"Major," Mary spoke, calmer than Jess, "Morgan and Grace are heroes loved by the entire county. It would do much for our future relationship if you got them out of there."

Sutton exhaled sharply, weighing her words.

"Alright. Alright, yeah, let's do this. But we don't know where to begin."

At that moment, Sheriff Whitehorse briskly walked into the command post.

"Sheriff!" Mary spluttered, "Morgan and Grace-"

He nodded.

"Yeah, I heard. What are we doing to get my deputies back?"

"Well, we don't even know where to start looking," Sutton admitted.

"They last reported they were on Morris Road down near the Henbane. We should start there," Whitehorse deduced.

"Morris Road is the longest in the county," Mary said.

"We need air support on this one," Sutton contemplated, "I can probably convince the Air Force to get a drone to do some sweeps by tomorrow…"

"We don't have 'by tomorrow.' The fuckin' Peggies are itching to kill 'em," Jess growled.

The sheriff nodded.

"She's right. We need something in the air now."

"Say," Mary said, "do you have a thermal camera or something like that?"

"We do," Sutton confirmed.

"Okay. Because I have an idea."

* * *

Nick and Kim Rye sat together on their porch, baby Nicole in her basket between them. Kim read a thriller novel while Nick had his hands laced on the back of his head, rocking in his chair at a steady pace. They were just glad to enjoy a sunny early evening without fear of the cult coming to fuck things up.

"Nick, have you talked to Morgan recently?" Kim asked, looking up from her novel.

"Not recently. I've been meaning to invite him over for dinner, but I guess we've been all a bit busy with the cult being pushed out and the National Guard arriving and what not."

She nodded.

"That makes sense."

"Why do you ask?" Nick said.

Kim put away her book.

"I was just thinking about him. You know, yesterday, I saw him holding hands with that girl Jess Black."

Nick faced his wife in surprise.

"Jess Black? That crazy girl with the bow and arrow that curses a lot?"

She nodded.

"Yep."

"So, what? You think they're in a relationship or something?"

Kim laughed.

"Well, yeah, I think holding hands with someone is a pretty good indication of that," she said with a hint of sarcasm.

Nick did not reply as he was looking at the dust being thrown up by two vehicles coming up he long driveway to his home.

"Who the hell is that?" he said suspiciously.

He leaned over to pick up the AR-15 leaning against the wall next to him but stopped when he saw Mary at the wheel of a white F-150 pickup. A tan Humvee followed close behind. Mary bought her truck to a stop, killed the engine, and leaped out. Jess also jumped out of the cab with her.

From the Humvee emerged the sheriff, Major Sutton, and one of his corporals, Jennings.

Mary jogged up to Nick, who came down to meet her.

"Mary! Is everything okay?" he asked, instantly noticing the worry on her face.

"They got Morgan and Grace!" she said frantically.

"What? Who has Morgan and Grace?" Nick inquired.

"The cult. They fuckin' captured them while they were on patrol," Jess said furiously.

"Shit!" Nick snapped, folding his hands over his chest.

Kim gasped.

"Are they okay?" she asked, concerned.

Whitehorse walked over to join the four of them.

"They're fine, for now. The cult released a video demanding the release of Joseph from federal custody. And they'll kill Morgan and Grace if that does not happen by tomorrow night," he told her.

Sutton, with Jennings in tow carrying a black hard case, came up to Nick.

"Mr. Rye- I'm Major Sutton with the National Guard. Your friends here have informed me that you have a plane we can get up in the air right this minute," he said, shaking Nick's hand quickly.

Nick nodded.

"Hell, yeah. I can get Carmina in the air. Whatever you need me to do, I'll be happy to do it."

Sutton turned to Jennings.

"Corporal?

He stepped forward and held up the black case.

"Right. I have a thermal imaging camera here. We can fly low and slow and look to see if we can find any bodies hiding in the woods. Then, we can relay that to the infantry and get your people home."

"That sounds like a plan," Nick said with a nod.

He turned to his wife.

"Kim, I'll be back," he told her before giving her a quick kiss.

Kim replied with a quick embrace.

"Get Morgan and Grace home, honey."

He reached into his shirt pocket and withdrew his ubiquitous aviator sunglasses. With a nod of his head to Jennings, Nick and the Guardsman ran off to his hanger.

"That settles that," Sutton said. He reached for the radio attached to his chest rig.

"Lieutenant," he spoke into the radio.

" _Major?_ " came the cackling reply.

"Get me six squads ready to go, full kit. I want them mounted up and ready to go in fifteen minutes."

" _Yes, Major!_ "

"Sheriff, you want to come? Figure I offer, at least," Sutton said to the sheriff.

He nodded quickly.

"Damn right I do."

"Let me come!" Mary interjected.

Sheriff Whitehorse shook his head softly.

"No, Mary. The people back at Fall's End are probably freaking the hell out. You need to be there keeping them calm and letting them know that we are coming back with our people."

"Goddamn it, Sheriff," Mary snapped, "I'm not their fucking babysitter. Morgan and Grace are my friends and I will not stand back and not help get them back!"

"Mayor, please. This is going to be dangerous. I have plenty of men coming with me on this. I don't want to put your life in danger," Sutton said in an attempt to convince her.

Mary frowned.

"I don't know if you know this or not, but we've been living in pretty dangerous times before you and the Guard showed up. And we held our fucking own."

She scoffed and turned to Jess.

"Jess, you wanna go with them and get Morgan and Grace back?"

Without hesitation, Jess gave a single, firm nod. She already had her bow and arrows ready to go. She had not even taken the time to change out of her casual outfit.

"Fuck yeah I do," she said resolutely.

"Then I'll head back to Fall's End if you let Jess come along. She's a better fighter than me and most of your men, probably," she said to Sutton.

Sutton exhaled, weighing the options. Bringing an unknown civilian, as eager as they were, to an operation was not recommended.

"She's right, major. Jess is one hell of a fighter. She won't get in your way," Whitehorse told the major.

Sutton nodded.

"Okay. Fine. Jess, you ride in my Humvee. Sheriff, you're with me too. Mayor, we'll be in touch," he relented.

Jess did not waste a second to run to the idling Hummer.

"What the fuck are we waiting for then?" she said loudly.

* * *

After reading off their demands, Morgan's hands were bound behind his back once more, this time with what felt like even itchier rope. Grace was shoved away back to another tent while Morgan was thrown back into the same tent with Alice watching him.

"What happens now?" he asked the young cultist.

She shrugged.

"We wait to see if your government cares about your life."

"That sure is reassuring," he said sarcastically.

"Hmph," she grunted before turning away.

Morgan sighed and sat back, wondering what to do for the next few minutes.

Maybe he could try talking his way out of this one. It would not hurt to try.

"Alice, can I ask you something?"

"No."

"Too bad. What exactly are you hoping to accomplish?"

It was a question he had been wondering. Even  _if_  the cultists got Joseph back- what would their plan be next? They possessed a fraction of the soldiers and resources they once claimed.

"We're hoping to build something great out here. And when the Collapse comes, we will endure and rise again," she said, sounding like she completely believed that line.

Morgan chuckled.

"Right. So, do they like give you canned responses to questions like that?"

"Shut up!" she hissed.

"No, listen, come on. Your bunkers that you and your buddies were hoping to ride out the apocalypse in? Yeah, those are gone. By the looks of it, you barely have enough resources to make it to the end of the week and you're hoping to survive Armageddon. Uh-huh."

Alice scowled at him and narrowed her eyes. She turned to fully face him.

"What is it you are suggesting, then?" she asked, irritated.

"I'm suggesting your best course of action will be to leave behind these fanatics and give up."

Alice was mad now. She slung her rifle over her shoulder and walked over to Morgan. Before he could say anything else, she delivered a kick to his ribs. Morgan cried out in pain and fell to the ground.

He groaned and gritted his teeth as Alice walked back.

"You know nothing, sinner!" she raged. "Those people you call 'fanatics' or 'psychos,' those people you kill without a second thought, those people are my family! More family to me than anyone I've  _ever_  known!"

Morgan groaned and pushed himself back up.

"Is that so?" he said quietly.

"Yes, it is. And you'd never know that because you know nothing about us. Only what you see and think you know. Eden's Gate, the Father, they've given me a home and a purpose. Things I have never had before," Alice quickly let out.

She stepped over, her fists clenched, probably looking to beat him some more.

"Well, then educate me," Morgan told her.

Alice paused mid-stride.

"What?"

"Tell me what Eden's Gate did for you. How did you end up here?"

Alice looked at him curiously.

"Why do you care?" she snapped.

"Well, if I'm some evil sinner that cuts down your brothers and sisters by the dozen without knowing them, then maybe telling me about your story will change my view."

Morgan added a shrug.

"Besides. It's not like we're going anywhere. Do you want to talk or would you rather sit there in silence, pretending I'm not here?"

Alice licked her lips.

"Okay. Okay, fine."

"Let me hear it, then," Morgan encouraged.

Alice's enraged expression softened.

"Well… Um, I wasn't born here. I'm from Albuquerque… you know, down in New Mexico."

Morgan nodded.

She continued.

"My parents beat me and spent most of their time drunk. I had to take care of myself. Eventually, I dropped out of high school and started running with the wrong people. Got hooked on meth."

With this revelation, Morgan's eyes widened in understanding and he sat up. There was something about her…

"You… you were an addict?"

She nodded.

"You know, my sister was hooked on meth too. She, uh, eventually overdosed. That was back when I was in high school."

Alice gasped quietly. She gave him a look that seemed genuinely sympathetic.

She quickly suppressed it with a scowl.

"She deserved it, because she was a sinner like you," she told him.

At first, anger welled up in the pit of Morgan's stomach. He wanted to call her several vile names, but he stopped himself. The way she said that… it did not sound like she actually believed the words she was saying.

"Do you really believe that?" he asked.

"I-" she said hesitantly, halting before saying anything else.

Morgan smirked.

"Whatever. How did you find Eden's Gate?"

"The Father spent a few months down in ABQ. He gathered followers and we set up in an old hotel. One day, I was looking for some crystal. One of my friends pissed off a dealer and we had to run away… I got separated from them and ended up in that hotel. I stumbled right in on Joseph giving a sermon. And… I was unwashed, dirty, and probably smelled awful. But Joseph… he stopped the sermon right there and he came over to me and said that I could have a home in his flock. Me! I didn't want to be an addict anymore. I wanted people to actually care about me. Joseph and the Project gave that to me."

Alice smiled, apparently fondly recalling the memory.

"And he gave me a job. Got me clean. Gave me a place to stay and a family. A true, loving family!"

"That sounds nice," Morgan said.

"You don't know the half of it. Really. It's just… something else. To know your worth and know you are working for something greater than yourself."

"Do you really think Joseph cares about you?" Morgan asked her quietly.

"Of course," she answered without hesitation.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Yes! He cares about all his children!" Alice cried.

Morgan nodded slowly and thoughtfully.

"Right. Why is he so intent on throwing your lives away?"

"We die for a greater purpose. I don't even expect you to  _begin_  to understand," she said dismissively.

"If he really loved you all, each and every one of you, then he would not want you to continue this pointless war, which will do nothing but result in more and more and more of you dead until none of you are left."

Alice looked like she wanted to hit him. She gazed with intensity into his eyes.

"Joseph uses all of you as his pawns, Alice. He only cares about obedience."

She punched him in the face, right in his left cheekbone. Morgan fell back down, grunting and cursing. Alice leapt back, shaking out her hand.

"Listen to me! I'll explain this in terms you and your friends are so fond of. Faith said everyone sins, right? Even the Father? That's what she said, I've heard it before. Well, you know what I think Joseph's sin is? His greatest, most vile sin?"

"No, no! You're wrong!" she spluttered.

"Pride! It's pride!" Morgan snapped.

"But-"

"Have you even considered this, Alice? That one man says that God has  _personally_  chosen him to deliver His word and prepare for the end of it all. One man! And that one man thinks his words is infallible, the absolute be all, end all. He expects each and every one of you to follow his word to the letter- or else. That is pride, Alice. He tolerates nothing less than complete, utter obedience to his word, a word that he claims comes from God."

Alice took a step back, seemingly comprehending Morgan's words.

"He wants us to obey because it's what God wants," she said in a tone that betrayed her own lack of confidence in the words she said.

"Joseph preyed on the weak, the broken, people like you. People who needed support. He gave you that support, that stability you needed. In return, he expected you to grovel before him. And you did without question, because deep down, you were scared he would cast you out and take away that support you relied on."

Alice was breathing heavily and stood shock still.

"Am I getting that right?" he asked quietly.

The flaps to the tent opened before Alice could reply. Bradley came inside and looked around at the scene.

"What's going on here?" the Chosen inquired.

Alice swallowed hard.

"The deputy said the Father was… I…" she tried to explain but could not.

"It's okay. He does not know what he is saying. You've been good, Alice. I'm proud of you for doing your part so well," Bradley softly said as he caressed her hair. Alice took a small step back, looking worried.

Morgan was shocked at what he was seeing. It was like Bradley did not even see him sitting there.

He suddenly hated the man a bit more.

"Later tonight, I'll… reward you for your work," Bradley said in a suggestive tone.

Alice nodded.

"Uh, thank you, sir," she said, near whisper.

A part of the ski mask Bradley wore curled into a smile.

"Very good."

He departed.

"Well, Alice," Morgan said to the woman, her back to him.

"What?" she whimpered.

"Does he hurt you?"

"No-"

"Does he?" Morgan insisted.

"No! I- I want this!"

She did not even try to deny what Morgan suspected was going on. Once again, it sounded like she did not believe the words coming out of her mouth.

"That man is using you and you're scared of him. I've seen this before."

Morgan leaned in closer to her.

"Listen! Cut me loose and I can get us out of here. I can get you to people who can truly help you."

She vigorously shook her head.

"I don't want to leave!"

Alice paused, moisture welling up in the corners of her eyes.

"I can't," she whispered.

Morgan was so focused on what she was had to say that he barely registered the sound of a very familiar plane engine above him.

* * *

"So, where'd you get the minigun for this thing anyway?" Jennings asked Nick over the headset as he attempted to maneuver the thermal camera in the cramped confines of Nick's plane.

"The cult smuggled in a few miniguns early on. I managed to borrow one from a guy who stole a truck full of the fuckin' things."

"That's pretty awesome!" Jennings said.

"Yeah, it kinda is. My only problem is getting enough 7.62 rounds to keep it going," Nick said with a chuckle.

"I can imagine. Hey, can you swing a little lower?"

Nick gently eased his plane downward.

"I think I got something… wait, no. That's a bunch of deer."

Jennings adjusted himself and peered down the thermal camera.

"Is that a…?"

He looked up and did not finish his sentence.

"You okay there?" Nick asked.

"I see something. People. A truck. Two of them!"

"Shit! That could be the Peggie's camp. Where are they?"

Jennings pointed down towards a patch of trees.

"You just flew right over them!" he said.

"Well, let's call it in!" Nick encouraged.

"Right. Let me see if I can get my map…"

"Let me," Nick said.

"Sheriff," he spoke into his headset, "I think we found 'em. They're off of Morris Road alright, in the woods about a thousand feet or so from where you make that left onto Holderness Lane."

" _I know where that is. Thanks, Nick._ "

Nick turned to Jennings, smiling broadly.

"Now, I hope you can get our friends back."

* * *

"They're looking for me, Alice," Morgan told her as she listened to the plane departing.

"It's only a matter of time now. You need to let me go. I'll get Grace and I'll run. I won't hurt you- I promise," Morgan added.

Alice shook her head.

"I ain't afraid to die."

"I'm sure. But do you really want to die so pointlessly?" he asked.

She was silent for several seconds. Outside, Bradley was barking orders and cultists could be heard hustling around camp.

"No," she finally whispered.

* * *

In the back seat of the Hummer, Jess tapped on her bow impatiently. She was just itching to come and bring down a can of whoop-ass on the cultists who captured Grace and Morgan.

Next to her, Whitehorse adjusted the straps of a Kevlar vest and slammed a magazine into an M16 rifle.

"Are you sure you don't want one?" he asked Jess, motioning to the spare vest she refused earlier.

"Yeah. Weighs me down," she said simply.

Whitehorse shrugged.

"Your call. I'll let you do your thing."

The Humvee came to a stop.

 _Finally_ , Jess thought to herself as she gathered her arrows and dismounted.

The other Humvees were also coming to a stop. Multiple heavily armed Guardsmen emerged.

"Alright, time to put that training to work," Sutton addressed his men.

"We do this quick and clean. Be careful of where you're shooting. We don't want to accidently hit them. Any questions?"

No one spoke up.

Sutton nodded and put on a helmet.

"Let's do this," he said firmly before waving his men forward. They all followed him into the forest, except for Jess. Unseen by any of those present, Jess melted into the increasingly darkened woods, finally at home.

* * *

Morgan argued with Alice for several minutes, trying to convince her to cut him loose. She alternated between agreeing and then retracting.

"Alice! They will kill you if you do not give up!"

"No! I- I can't!"

"Listen to me-"

Before Morgan could say another word, someone on the perimeter of camp shouted.

"National Guard! Let me see your hands!"

Then, there was Bradley.

"Kill them!"

Then the shooting began.

A chorus of gunfire erupted from what seemed like every corner of the woods. Morgan and Alice both hit the ground out of reactionary instinct. A pair of bullets punched through the canvas walls and whizzed above their heads.

"Alice!" he hissed.

Tears were flowing down her grime caked cheeks.

"I…"

She stood up and withdrew her knife.

For a moment, Morgan thought she was going to slit his throat.

Instead, she cut through his bindings. Morgan looked at her with surprise while she sat down and dropped her knife.

He stood up and reached over for her fallen rifle. Alice simply stared at him.

"Hey…" he said calmly.

He grasped the AR-15 and picked it up.

"Just kill me," she said hoarsely.

"I said I wouldn't. And I won't," Morgan said back.

"Stay here. Surrender when they come around."

Alice nodded listlessly.

Morgan wordlessly ran out of the tent.

* * *

Whitehorse ducked behind a fallen log as rifle rounds sent wood splinters flying above his head. He peaked over and fired a burst from his M16, dropping a cultist clutching a shotgun.

Another one advanced on him, only for an arrow to appear out of thin air and catch him in the heart. The cultist stumbled and fell back.

Whitehorse looked behind him to see Jess emerge from the woods.

"It's me," she said as she settled behind cover.

"These idiots are gonna hit Morgan or Grace," she grumbled, watching the Guardsmen opening fire indiscriminately. The cultists were heavily outnumbered and most of their forces were killed in a mere five minutes.

The Guardsmen advanced steadily. Any remaining cultists retreated to whatever cover was available in their camp.

"Let me handle this," Jess sighed, bounding out of cover.

She hopped over a tree stump and into the camp proper. A cultist sheltering behind a crate received an arrow to the back of the head, while another, hearing his friend cry out, turned just in time for Jess to slam her knife through his neck.

 _Where are you two?_  She thought as she surveyed the carnage.

Jess shook her head and nocked a fresh arrow before heading for the tents.

* * *

Morgan ran to the tent Grace was being held in, rifle at the ready. He half expected to be accidently shot by one of the Guardsmen. But, he did not have a beard and they hopefully realized that anyone who looked particularly shaggy was probably a cultist.

He got to the tent and prepared to push it open when he felt a powerful arm wrap around his neck from behind.

"Drop it," Bradley muttered into his ear.

Morgan let go of the AR-15 as the muzzle of his own pistol dug into the back of his head.

The gunfire died down until only the sound of boots on the ground could be heard.

"Clear!" several Guardsmen called out.

Bradley pushed Morgan in front of him and made him walk while shielding himself with Morgan's body.

A few troopers caught sight of them. They raised their weapons and called out, getting the attention of everyone else.

"Drop your weapon and release him!" a Guardsman ordered.

"You fuckin' sinners think you scare me? Huh?" Bradley spat back.

The sheriff made his way to the front of the group.

"You release my deputy right now, or so help me God-"

"God is not going to help you!" he shouted. "He  _hates_  you! All of you!"

"Let him go, now! You will die if you do not!" Sutton said forcefully.

"You think I'm afraid to die, huh? Do you? Are you willing to shoot through this sinner you love so much to kill me?"

The pistol was pressed further into Morgan's head. He could almost feel Bradley's finger starting to depress the trigger.

He closed his eyes and attempted to keep his breathing under control. Numerous thoughts flew through his head. The most prominent was:

 _That's it. I'm going to die. He's going to shoot me. I'm never going to see Jess again_.

"I will kill him right now!" Bradley screamed.

He was suddenly silent. Morgan could hear the sound of bone crunching.

The iron grip around his neck loosened. Bradley slipped off of Morgan and fell to the ground, dead. An arrow was sticking out of his right temple.

Jess emerged from a cluster of trees. No one knew she was there until the moment she acted.

"Jess," Morgan called tiredly.

She half laughed, half cried when she saw him.

"Morgan…"

Without another word, she ran over and threw her arms around him. Morgan returned her embrace. The onlookers stared, feeling awkward.

"You came," Morgan said breathlessly.

"Of course I did," she replied softly. "Of course."

* * *

A National Guard medic applied bandages and cleaned the cuts on Morgan's face while Jess sat next to him, holding his hand.

Grace came over, smirking.

"Aw. Isn't this just fuckin' adorable?" she said playfully to Morgan and Jess.

He smiled at her.

"That's us."

"Looks like they got everyone. Except… her, for some reason," Grace said, jerking her head towards Alice, who was handcuffed and being led to a Humvee.

Morgan simply nodded.

"Wonder what made her so special," he mused.

Whitehorse joined the group.

"Glad to see you're still alive, Rook," he said while clapping Morgan on the shoulder.

"I'm hard to kill, sheriff."

He chuckled.

"Seems it, deputy. Listen, Morgan and Grace, take a few days off. You've both had it rough today."

"On our first goddamn patrol too. Doesn't bode very well for my future law enforcement career," Grace said with an air of sarcasm.

"Hopefully this is just an anomaly, Deputy Armstrong," Whitehorse sighed.

"Let's hope. I'm not ready to save your ass every day," Jess said as she squeezed Morgan's hand.

Whitehorse sighed again and placed his hands on his hips.

"Hell of a day. Let's get home."

* * *

It was late when they got home. The sun had long since disappeared over the horizon and the Moon was out to bring cooler temperatures for Hope County. Morgan quietly made his way home with Jess, not looking to stay up all night being swarmed by the residents of the town.

The porkchops were cold by the time he got home, but it was nothing a little microwave magic could not remedy. He and Jess ate in relative silence, mostly because Morgan was both hungry and very thirsty.

"Thanks, Jess. That really hit the spot," he complimented.

She smiled.

"I was kinda hoping we could eat it earlier."

Morgan gave a light chuckle.

"Thanks for saving my life. Again."

"I'm used to it."

They were silent for a few moments. Jess sniffled.

Morgan stood up.

"Jess! You okay?"

She shook her head and stood up to hug him.

"I-"

"Jess…"

She was crying. Morgan had never seen her shed a single tear before. And now, she was bawling into his arms.

"Jess, what's wrong?" he asked, stroking her hair.

"Fucking hell, Morgan," she sobbed. "I thought I was gonna lose you. Oh, my God. I thought you were going to die."

Now it was Morgan's turn to let the tears fall.

"But I didn't, Jess. I'm here."

"Yeah, I realized. I'm crying because I'm happy about that, you idiot!"

He laughed through the tears.

"I'm crying because you're crying."

She laughed too. They stood there, silent except for the occasional sniffle, for several minutes.

"Morgan," she said, just above a whisper.

"Yeah?" he breathily replied.

She leaned in close to him, her hot breath on his neck.

"I love you," Jess whispered.

He was silent. Morgan was so stunned by her words, he did not know how to reply. But, it was a good kind of shocked silence.

"Is… is it too early to say that?" she asked warily.

Morgan laughed again.

"No, no!" he assured her.

He gently cupped her cheeks in his hands and held up her head. Morgan searched her Caribbean Sea eyes, still glistening from the tears she had shed.

"Because I love you too," Morgan finally said.

And he did. He absolutely, unquestionably, did. The time he spent asking himself whether or not he did, weighing all the "what-ifs" and other worries, that was time wasted. Morgan realized he loved Jess Black. This was not something he had to question, not something he had to contemplate and reexamine and try to find the right words. No. He loved her. He loved everything about her. And when the cultist held a gun to his head and was about to pull the trigger, Morgan's final thought would have been of her.

Jess Black was everything he had ever wanted and more.

And he loved her. That was that.

He had loved Jess longer than he could realize. He just did not know how to properly express it.

The weight of all his questions dissolved off of his shoulders. In that moment, both the huntress and the deputy knew that they loved the person they were with. Simple as that. All the other worries just melted away.

"You know how good that makes me feel, right?" Jess asked him.

"Very much, I hope. The same way you make me feel."

"Dammit, Morgan," she laughed into his shoulder. "You're making me all… warm and fuzzy and shit. I'm not used to this."

"Me neither."

"I guess we'll both have to figure it out together then," Jess concluded.

Morgan and Jess gently bought their lips together at the same time. Morgan leaned in to receive more of her kiss, his hands pulling her closer. Jess gladly obliged, grabbing a handful of hair as she leaned in.

She stepped back, arms still holding onto him. Jess gave him a hungry look.

"But first… let me clean you up. You kinda smell. It's ruining the moment."

* * *

In the bathroom, Jess gently peeled off the sweat and bloodstained undershirt he was wearing. She ran her hands over his body, settling on the bruises where Alice hit him.

"Look what they did to you," she whispered.

She reached over and turned on the hot water of the shower.

"Come on. Lose the pants already," she ordered as she began to tug off his jeans. She "accidently" tore off his boxers at the same time.

"Are you gonna join me? It's more efficient to use water that way," Morgan teased.

With a suggestive smile, Jess quickly took off her tank top and threw it into the dirty clothes hamper. She took Morgan's hands into her own and guided his fingers to the hooks and latches of her bra.

"I thought you'd never ask," she said in the sultriest tone she could manage.

* * *

In the shower, Jess gently scrubbed off the remains of the day's events, while Morgan did his best not to slip. The shower was larger than the one in the Spread Eagle, but still not meant for two people.

"If you slip and break your neck, I'm gonna be so pissed," she whispered as she worked shampoo into his hair.

"I can think of worse ways to die," Morgan responded as she began to knead the shampoo into foamy suds with her fingers.

Morgan closed his eyes as she did so. Even in the steaming hot water, the feeling of her raking through his hair and her fingertips dancing across his scalp sent a pleasant chill down his spine.

"Jess," he began softly, "hurry up."

"I'm gonna take my sweet-ass time, deputy," she said teasingly.

* * *

Later, Morgan once again felt the pleasing heat of red scratches down his back as he lay in bed naked with Jess.

His friend.

His companion.

His love.

It felt so good to finally be able to say that and to mean it. And to hear her say it back. Everything that had happened, everything they had been through, meant that they met each other. And Morgan knew that had to mean something.

"You're not doing anything tomorrow, right?" Jess pressed him as she ran a hand through his heavily tousled hair.

"As long as you're not," he said.

Jess giggled.

"That's what I want to hear."

"I'm gonna be sore in the morning," he lamented.

"I'll give you a massage."

"Do you know how to give massages?"

"Not a damn clue," she admitted.

They both laughed.

"Should be fun," he said sleepily.

"That's everything we do together. Fun in one strange way or another," she replied.

Morgan exhaled and turned to his side to fully face her.

"Are you tired?" he inquired.

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'm gonna sleep too."

Jess nodded once and snuggled up to him.

"Goodnight, Morgan."

He ran a hand though her hair one more time.

"Goodnight, Jess."

She gave him a soft kiss on the lips. A kiss that possessed all her feelings behind it.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Morgan said back.

She smiled one last time.

As Morgan drifted off, he thought one thing.

 _Everything is gonna be okay_.  


	8. Questions and Few Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to update this more regularly since I'm done with school for the summer. Thank you, reader, for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think.

The entire room seemed to rattle as a Blackhawk helicopter passed over Fall's End. Even as it departed, the furniture and walls in Morgan and Jess's house vibrated for some time.

They both stirred, groaning due to being rudely awakened so early. Jess rolled over and laid her head on his chest.

"Fuckin' National Guard," she said sleepily.

"You said it," a drowsy Morgan replied.

She leaned up, resting her cheek on an open palm as she looked at him. Morgan smiled up at her and Jess smirked back.

"You know, your sleepy voice is really sexy," she informed him.

"Yeah?"

Jess leaned in for and quickly received her "good morning" kiss.

"Yeah," she confirmed.

"First I'm hearing this. I for one think your voice is sexy all the time," Morgan said while brushing away a lock hair that hung in her face.

She laughed.

"Oh, you just know how to knock me dead," she teased.

"I try."

Jess began to sluggishly crawl over him to get out of bed.

"I'm gonna pee," she announced.

One of her knees collided with a large bruise on the side of Morgan's ribs. He bucked in pain and let out a brief cry. Jess immediately paused and sat up.

"Whoa, are you okay?" she asked, her voice full of genuine concern.

Morgan grimaced and looked into her teal eyes, which had gone wide with the knowledge she had hurt him, even if it was an accident.

"I'm fine," he reassured her. "It's just I got a few kinda nasty bruises around. So, uh, be careful!"

"I'll be sure to," Jess said with a sweet smile.

She more gracefully excised herself from their bed and jogged into the bathroom. Morgan swung his legs over to try and get up and was immediately wracked with pain and soreness from what felt like every part of his body. He groaned as he stretched, attempting to alleviate the aches. The pains were probably the results of sitting for hours in awkward, uncomfortable positions and getting beat up by Peggies.

Jess emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later.

"Don't get up," she ordered him.

"What? Why?"

"I'm going to make us breakfast and we're going to eat it in bed."

"No! Jess, let's just go to Mary. I don't want you to do anything."

"Shush!" Jess hissed, putting a finger to her lips.

"I-" he started.

"Shush!" Jess said again, louder this time. "Do you not remember me saying 'I love you' and all that? And when you love someone, you cook them some goddamn breakfast. Besides. Breakfast in bed is romantic as shit. You're into that romance shit."

"Well," Morgan started as he stood up against her orders, "I also don't want the person I love to work very hard."

She walked over to him and gently put her arms around his shoulders.

"How about this? We go to get breakfast at Mary's and then we cook dinner together later," she suggested.

Morgan leaned down and kissed her gently.

"That sounds good, babe."

He felt Jess smile against his lips.

"So, we're doing 'babe' and 'baby' and 'honey' and whatever now?"

"I think it would be appropriate."

"Then what do I call you?" she asked.

"Whatever you want."

She broke away and gave him a mischievous smile.

"Be careful giving me that kind of power," Jess warned as she rooted around for some fresh clothes.

She settled on a pair of black yoga pants and a loose fitting green shirt. Morgan admired her from behind as she pulled the snug garment up her legs.

"Are you going to just sit there and perv on me or are you going to get dressed?" Jess asked when she caught his staring.

Morgan shrugged.

"Hm. I don't know. I'm enjoying myself."

Jess picked up a pair of jeans and threw it to him.

"I'm sure you are. But come on, I'm hungry."

* * *

Mary was at her usual spot at the bar and idly looked up from her cup of coffee when she heard the door open.

Her face lit up when she saw Morgan enter with Jess. With a broad smile, she bounded out from behind the bar and grabbed him in a tight embrace.

"Morgan!" she said happily.

Morgan returned her embrace.

"Hey, Mary."

She let go of him and turned to face Jess.

"Sorry, Jess, not trying to steal your man or anything," she assured her.

Jess chuckled. "Whatever you say."

Mary laughed back and hugged her too.

"So, are you okay?" she asked Morgan a moment later.

He nodded.

"Yep, I'm okay. A little bruised, a bit sore, but I'll live."

"Ah, that's good. God, I was so fucking worried," she lamented.

Morgan grinned sheepishly.

"Well, I'm alive, right?"

"I wanted to see if you were okay. But the sheriff said I should just leave you be."

Morgan felt some guilt at that statement, seeing as his friend wanted to see him, but he did not want to see anyone but Jess.

"I'm sorry about that, Mary. It was… an eventful day. I just wanted to go home."

Mary waved him off.

"Don't worry about it. It's not a problem at all. I can totally understand that. I'm just glad everything turned out okay."

She motioned to her coffee pot.

"So, you want some breakfast?"

"That's what we came here for, since Morgan apparently doesn't want me cooking," Jess explained.

"Sounds like him," Mary chuckled while looking at Morgan. "What would you like?"

"I think I'll have a cheese omelet," Morgan said.

"Can I have some sausage and scrambled eggs?" Jess requested.

"You got it and yes, you may," Mary responded.

The radio on Morgan's belt buzzed. He had become so used to having people call on him, he just kept his radio on his person at all times.

" _Hey kid, it's Dutch. The sheriff told me what happened. Glad to hear you're okay._ "

Morgan picked up his radio and spoke into it.

"Thanks, I appreciate that."

" _So… when you have a chance, can you come drop by? I have something I want to talk about_."

Morgan briefly looked at Jess, who shrugged.

"Not sure what he could want," she said, confused.

"Yeah, sure Dutch. I'll be there in an hour or so. Let me just finish breakfast," he spoke into his radio.

" _Take your time, kid. I'll see you_."

"Wonder what that's about," he wondered aloud.

Mary and Jess shrugged simultaneously.

The door was pushed open and Grace entered.

"Well, it looks like a party in here," she said as Morgan, Jess, and Mary greeted her.

"You know it," Mary chuckled.

Grace took a seat next to Jess. She had also suffered at the hands of the Peggies during her captivity, but apparently, Morgan was the target of their aggression. The worst she got away with was a black eye.

"How you doing, Morgan?" she asked.

"Everyone keeps asking me that. I mean, I'm alive. That's all I can ask for really."

"I suppose," Grace said with a shrug as Mary poured her some coffee.

"You know, if I'm intruding on you guys, I can just leave," Grace offered to Morgan and Jess.

"Oh, shut up," Jess said plainly, "you ain't disturbing us!"

"Yeah. We almost died together. I think that gives us a bond," Morgan chuckled.

"Oh, of course," Grace said, "nothing like almost getting murdered to bring a few people together."

A few minutes later, their breakfasts were served.

"Grace, you want anything?" Mary offered.

Grace waved her off.

"Nah, coffee's fine."

"You're easy to please. Your boyfriends must be happy about that," Jess said with a joking smirk.

Grace just rolled her eyes.

* * *

After breakfast and many thanks to Mary, Morgan got up to leave.

"Is it okay if I take the truck to Dutch's place?" he asked Jess.

She gave him a look that told him he should have already known the answer.

"Come on, we've hung out enough already. I think you've heard me complain about driving around in a loud-ass truck plenty of times."

Morgan smiled at her.

"Of course."

"So, drive safe," she told him as she got up to hug him.

"And try not to get kidnapped by Peggies again. I'm getting  _real_  tired of saving the day," she said into his shoulder.

"I'll try my best."

Jess leaned up to give him a quick kiss.

"Bye, babe. Don't get lost."

Morgan said his farewells to everyone else and left.

Jess turned around when she heard Grace and Mary chuckling.

"I see your relationship has progressed to the point where affectionate nicknames are acceptable," Mary said.

"Oh, yeah," Jess replied in a faux serious tone, "shit's getting real serious now."

* * *

With a pair of sunglasses on to alleviate the strong early June sun, Morgan tore down the deserted asphalt road to Dutch's Island. The radio was tuned to some alt-rock, which faded into the background as Morgan admired the beautiful day outside.

The sounds of the radio and engine were suddenly drowned out by another Blackhawk chopper making a fast and low pass overhead. Morgan watched as the light grey helicopter banked to the left and headed in the direction of the Whitetail Mountains. A few minutes later, a pair of desert tan Humvees passed in the opposite lane, with an M1117 Guardian armored car trundling along close behind. The Guardsman mounted on the lead Humvee's .50 cal gave a brief wave as Morgan passed them.

_I should take a vacation. Looks like the Guard is doing most of my job_ , Morgan thought as the armored vehicles receded in the distance.

_Then again, the National Guard won't be here forever. That, and they probably aren't responding to an old lady worried about a prowler_ , he thought a moment later.

Morgan enjoyed being a cop. He hoped the National Guard could finish their jobs soon enough so he could get back to patrolling a normal county where he responded to normal crimes.

As he neared the recently cleared bridge to Dutch's Island, he saw a pair of Humvees parked on the side of the road. A small group of Peggies were on their knees, where a pair of Guardsmen slapped plastic Flex Cuffs around their wrists. Nearby, some fellow Guardsmen kept their M16s at the ready.

Morgan watched the scene as he coasted by, satisfied to see that at least a few of the cultists had some sense to throw in the towel. He wondered what they would actually be charged with. Sure, evidence of the cult's handiwork was clear to see, but it was not like there was enough hard evidence of various criminal acts to charge every cultist who remained. He figured most would be hit with weapons charges or something similar.

Joseph's trial would begin today- the 12th of June. That would surely be something to see. There was talk he would be called to be a witness. Jess would be too. Maybe Grace. Definitely the sheriff.

He was not sure what he would do if he got called up and asked to talk about what had went down in Hope. He really would not even know where to begin. It was quite the story.

Either way, it was a concern for another day.

Morgan instead decided to focus on the perfect day outside and how he could once again enjoy driving around Hope County without swerving around dead bodies, burning cars, and patrolling cultists or dodging cultist roadblocks and technicals. Heading across the iron bridge to Dutch's Island, Morgan was pleased to find the former park had already been cleaned up of corpses and wreckage. The National Guard and Army Corps of Engineering was doing a pretty good job of wiping away any trace of the cult's time in Hope County. Not that anyone would miss their presence.

He slowed his truck and parked it at the head of the short trail to Dutch's bunker. Morgan jumped out of the truck, removed his sunglasses, and took a moment to stretch while taking a deep breath of the clean summer air.

A short walk later, he found the steel hatch to Dutch's hole in the ground wide open. A rarity for the man.

Morgan leaned down and announced himself, not wanting to get accidently shot.

"Dutch, it's me. Can I come in?"

"Yeah, come on in, kid," Dutch called from further inside.

Morgan slid down the ladder and walked down into Dutch's abode. The man walked out from his kitchen to meet him, clapping him on the shoulder as he did so.

"How you doing, Morgan?" Dutch inquired as they shook hands. "I heard the Peggies got to ya."

Morgan nodded in affirmation.

"Yep, they sure did. But, I got out. Jess saved my life. Again."

He smirked at that.

"Right. So, come on in, have a seat. You want a beer?"

"Sure, thanks."

Dutch retrieved a pair of cold beer bottles and passed one to Morgan as they both took a seat at his plain dining room table.

"So, what's up, Dutch? You said you had something you wanted to talk about. I figure it must be important enough to require face-to-face discussion," Morgan said after he took a sip.

"Normally I don't need you to come all the way out here, but I just wanted to talk about something that I felt would be better suited man-to-man," Dutch replied.

Morgan nodded, not sure where this was going.

"The suspense is killing me, Dutch!" he said with a laugh.

Dutch gently put down his beer.

"I saw Jess the other day. She told me you two are, uh, seeing each other."

Morgan looked into the older man's eyes. He had adopted a darkly serious look, one that held a hint of concern. Dutch was the only family Jess had left. It made sense she would tell him. Not that Morgan minded at all. Dutch was a good man and deserved to know what his niece was up to, especially with such a major life event.

Morgan gave a firm nod in affirmation.

"Yeah. We are. It's been that way for a few days now."

_And a lot has happened in those few days_ , he thought to himself.

"Right, yeah. She mentioned that," Dutch said.

He leaned back and sighed.

"I'm not like… disapproving or whatever. She's an adult and can do whatever she wants. I just can't say I was expecting it."

"Well, I suppose you can say a lot of unexpected things have been happening," Morgan said.

Dutch chuckled once.

"Yeah. I guess you could say that."

He leaned forward, intently catching Morgan's gaze.

"Look, I'm not trying to play the hard-ass dad here who disapproves of his daughter's boyfriends, I'm just… I don't know. Shit, Morgan. I don't even know what I'm feeling. I shouldn't be concerned. It's not like I don't know you, kid."

"Dutch, I can promise you I will do right by her and by you," Morgan resolutely confirmed.

Dutch nodded.

"I know you will. I know."

He licked his lips and leaned forward again. His expression changed to one of deathly seriousness.

"I don't think I need to say this, Morgan, but if you hurt her, I will hunt you to the ends of the Earth," Dutch warned him.

Morgan scoffed and could feel his mouth open in shock at Dutch's words. He almost felt offended that Dutch even entertained the possibility that Morgan would be capable of hurting Jess.

But, he thought for a moment. Dutch had been there when Jess's parents were killed and watched her become the cold and ruthless huntress she was today. Morgan knew Dutch's own son and his family had gone no contact with him. Jess was the only family he had left. And Dutch was the last family Jess had, too. Really, Morgan knew it would be completely unnatural if Dutch was  _not_  protective.

Morgan gave a single nod to that.

"Dutch, I promise you- I would never,  _ever_  hurt Jess. I would rather die than raise a hand to her in anger."

Dutch relaxed, taking from Morgan's tone he meant everything he said.

"Ah, shit. I'm sorry, kid," he said, sounding truly apologetic for suggesting what he did.

"No. I get it, really. You're just looking out for her. Like any man would do for his daughter or niece or whatever. I get it."

Dutch smiled.

"Well, I'm glad you at least get that."

Morgan smirked in reply.

"I try."

"So, how did this all start, if I may ask?" Dutch asked, changing the subject away from the more serious things.

"That's a great question," Morgan said with a laugh.

"Did you like… ask her out or whatever it is?"

"Something like that. Well, really I would say this is something that's been brewing for a while."

"Kids and your relationships," Dutch muttered, "shit was so easy when I was your age. Just ask the girl to a movie or dinner or whatever."

"Most people don't meet their girlfriend when fighting psychotic cultists," Morgan pointed out.

"That's true. Even I didn't deal with that in my day," Dutch chuckled.

Both men sipped their drinks in a contemplative silence. Dutch eventually sighed and replaced his brew.

"You know, I'm actually trying to find reasons to be worried. I got nothing, though. You really are a good man, Morgan. And I can't think of anyone else I'd want Jess to be with."

Morgan smiled softly and nodded once.

"I appreciate that, Dutch. Thank you."

"Well, that's all I had to say. Really, I was imagining more death threats coming out of me, but I just have to be honest with myself. I know you'll do right, Morgan," Dutch said, accepting that Morgan was probably now going to be a bigger part of his life.

He stood up and Morgan followed suit. Dutch extended his hand and Morgan took it in a firm handshake.

"Take care of her, kid," Dutch told him.

Morgan smiled.

"If anything, she's taking care of  _me_."

* * *

"So, what did Dutch have to say?" Jess asked Morgan as they ate some venison and cheese sandwiches for lunch.

"Well, there was some real talk about how he would kill me if I ever hurt you," Morgan said.

She giggled.

"Listen- if you ever do try to beat me up, I'll probably just kill you myself. So, he doesn't have to worry."

"Remind me not to pick a fight with you," Morgan said with a grin.

"You won't have to worry about that. I only kill Peggies, babe, remember?"

"How could I not?"

"You know," Jess said after a few chews, "I'm surprised Dutch is taking us so seriously. I feel like I'm back in high school with my dad complaining about whatever fucking loser I bought home."

"I don't blame him. He's just concerned. You're all he has left," Morgan replied.

She nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah. That makes sense, I guess. I dunno. It just brings me back to times when my dad would yell 'why do you keep going after these goddamn losers?' after I'd bring some new asshole home. And I would typically reply along the lines of 'you don't get it, dad! He's special!'"

She reached over and grasped his hand in hers before looking into his eyes.

"Except this time around you are not an asshole and  _are_  actually special."

Morgan could not hold back his laughter.

"You sure know how to make a man feel truly special," he laughed.

"I could say the same for you," she said.

"Or, well, replace that last part with 'making a girl feel truly special' and you'll get what I mean," she added after thinking about it for a moment.

"I think I could figure it out," Morgan assured her.

"Oh good. So, what do you want for dinner?" she asked.

He thought for a moment.

"How about… I grill some steaks and you can watch and complain about my grilling technique."

She frowned.

"Actually, I recall us agreeing to make dinner  _together_ ," she chided.

"Okay, okay. Fine. Make some mashed potatoes or something."

"That's it?"

"That's all I think we need!"

She groaned and leaned back.

"Goddamn it, Morgan."

"What?"

"Most men leap at the opportunity to have their girlfriend cook for them."

"I guess I'm just special like that," Morgan said with a shrug.

"Clearly," Jess concluded sarcastically.

* * *

With the sun beginning to recede down the horizon, Morgan and Jess prepared dinner, with Morgan on the grill trying his best not to turn the sides of angus beef into black slabs resembling hockey pucks. Jess transitioned several times between the outside and inside, collecting finished steaks and giving Morgan more to cook as well as stopping to kiss him and alternating between complimenting his abilities and making fun of him.

The radio played several appropriately upbeat songs for them to dance (poorly) along to as they worked. Morgan looked up at one moment to see Jess twirling around, her eyes closed and a broad smile on her face as she balanced a plate of mashed potatoes on one hand.

As he watched her, he felt as if the world was slowing down, just so he could savor this moment.

_This is what life is meant to be like. This is perfect_ , he thought.

And Morgan knew, in this moment, he wanted more days like this.

Many more.

She stopped her dancing and grinned at him. Her grin turned to a concerned frown.

"Uh, Morgan, the steak?"

He looked down and saw the steak on the grill had moved a bit past well done.

"Shit," he mumbled as he hurriedly rescued the meat.

* * *

After a very satisfying dinner, Morgan and Jess cleaned up the plates and utensils and put everything away. Morgan retreated to the bathroom to take a hot shower, hoping that would do something to help alleviate the dull aches all over his body.

He showered, disappointed Jess had not joined him. Maybe she had something else in mind.

As he exited, drying off his hair, he called out to wherever she was lurking.

"Hey, Jess?"

"Yes?" came her singsong reply.

"I don't think I'm up for sex tonight. I'm still sore as fuck."

"Oh, yeah?" she replied airily. He could hear her at the threshold of the door to their room.

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry," he began to apologize.

He turned around and saw her there, wearing her signature green hunting jacket.

And nothing else.

"Maybe I can help you feel better," she purred.

Morgan's eyes went wide, taking her in as she strode into the light.

"I- uh, maybe…" he managed to stammer. Just looking at her made him devolve into a bumbling moron. She had that effect on him.

Jess smiled back, a smile that said she wanted something.

With one hand, she tossed away her jacket and used the other to toss away the towel he was loosely holding. Before Morgan could even comprehend what she was doing, he was sitting on their bed and she was before him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

Wordlessly, Jess leaned in to greedily steal his kisses and Morgan was powerless to resist her. Soon, he found his hands exploring her curves and skin, things he was getting to know quite well. She had his heart racing and made a hot feeling crawl up the back of his neck.

_She's fucking perfect,_ he said to himself.

"What do you want me to do?" Morgan asked between ragged breaths.

Jess leaned over and gently bit his ear before whispering to him.

"I want you to do whatever you want to me."

Morgan's heart leapt at her words.

_Holy shit,_ his inner voice managed to squeak.

He leaned forward, kissing her neck and settling his arms to embrace her tightly.

"I want you," he managed to let out as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah?" she said sensually.

"I want you. Forever," he whispered back.

Jess paused her movements just for a few seconds to absorb what he had said.

He could have just been saying that because things were  _very_  hot and heavy, but…

_Forever_.

Now, that was a big word to be throwing around.

And knowing Morgan, he did not just say things to say them.

Jess did not know exactly what to think at that moment, but her body did the thinking for her.

She gently raked her fingers through his hair, lightly drawing her nails across his scalp. He sighed and closed his eyes, obviously enjoying what she was doing.

He responded with tracing his hands everywhere he could, leaving lingering heat on her skin wherever he went. Jess just wanted to melt into him.

Simultaneously, they raised their heads and paused their wild movements. Jess looked into Morgan's eyes, just wanting to get lost in those big green eyes. They searched her own, full of several emotions at once. Desire. Longing. Love.

"I love you," he whispered.

Jess could only smile and let out a girlish giggle.

Maybe "forever" would be exactly what she needed.

* * *

With the sun finally gone from the sky, the air had cooled to a degree comfortable for sleeping. A gentle breeze blew in through the open window on the far side of the bedroom, but Jess remained comfortably warm under the covers.

Morgan was asleep, laying down on his side, breathing heavily and rhythmically. She was feeling sleepy, but a few thoughts were keeping her up.

She kept thinking about how Morgan said "forever." That was quite an idea.

It was obvious they both loved each other. But… did they love each other enough to spend the rest of their lives with each other?

As awful as it might have sounded, Jess was unsure. Did he mean something like…?

Marriage?

Jess had entertained the idea in her daydreams before, but never gave any serious though to the concept. Even when she was younger, she never thought about getting married. She never went into a relationship imagining she would marry the guy eventually. Relationships were just things she did when she wanted a boyfriend. And yeah, some of them were fun, but in the end, she could never see herself spending her life with any of her boyfriends.

It went without saying, this was different. Morgan  _was_  different. Their whole relationship was  _different_. And she truly, absolutely, loved him.

But marriage was just not something she  _ever_  thought about.

Maybe that was a byproduct of watching the tenuous relationship her mom and dad maintained before they died. When her dad got drunk (which was fairly often), he would always scream about leaving "my dumb bitch of a wife."

Granted, he never did, but still. It was not like they were blissfully wed at all. Jess could not recall the last time she saw them kiss or even embrace.

Turning over to look at her sleeping boyfriend, Jess sighed softly.

She wanted to be with him for quite a while if they could help it. But being married was… just not something she could imagine. It was strange, what she was feeling.

As she rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling, Jess thought about one of pieces of advice her granny had imparted to her when they were living together.

_If you're ever stuck in some sort of situation where the answer isn't clear, don't go crazy thinking about it. You'll just overthink it and end up doing something you actually don't mean and just generally fuck everything up more. Just wait on it. The clear answer will come to you and you will know when it happens_.

Jess figured that would have to be the solution. For now. Hopefully, Morgan would not be hearing wedding bells in his head anytime soon. She needed that time to think.

* * *

The next day was a lazy Saturday highlighted by temperatures breaking into the upper 80s. Morgan wanted to return to work on Monday, even though the sheriff assured him he could take off longer if he wanted.

Jess secretly wished he would take off longer. She liked having him around.

They were sitting on the porch of their house, hiding in the shade of the awning above them while a cool breeze kept them from sweating heavily. Boomer sat between them, laying down on his stomach and observing the road outside for any sign of interlopers. The Blue Heeler was one of the animals Morgan acquainted himself with during the war against Eden's Gate and the only one that could comfortably live with him. Cheeseburger the Grizzly Bear was said to be roaming the Whitetail Mountains, occasionally coming into town for pets and treats from the locals. Many worried for his safety but hoped the distinctive collar he wore would dissuade any Hope County hunter from taking a shot at him. As for Peaches, she hung around Fall's End, hunting in the nearby woods but always coming back to curl up behind the Spread Eagle. She was like a very large housecat in that regard.

"Hey, babe?" Morgan said idly while looking through a shopping periodical.

"What's up?"

"I was thinking. We need to get some new furniture and stuff for the house. The Caldwells took a lot with them and much of what they left behind is kinda… broken."

Jess nodded in agreement.

"Oh, yeah. My chair in the dining room is really wobbly and it's driving me up the fucking wall."

She motioned to the exterior wall behind her.

"I also want to get some paint. We should put a fresh coat on the outside. I mean, look at this shit. It's all peeling off."

"You're right," he agreed, "that'll make for a good relationship bonding project."

She giggled.

"Oh, yeah. First we bonded by killing Peggies and now we bond painting houses."

"So, why don't we head to the next county over and go to Lowe's or something?"

"That sounds good. I need to get to a pharmacy too and stock up on the pill," she added.

Morgan smiled.

"Good call. I'm not looking to have baby Jess's running around. One of you is enough for this world."

"I fucking hate kids," she said bluntly, as she was apt to do.

Morgan laughed at the way she delivered her opinion.

"You're so tactful."

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm just sayin'. They're fucking annoying. And noisy. I ain't looking to change diapers."

"You know, they do grow up, right?"

She snorted.

"Yeah, then they grow up to be dumbass teenagers. And if we have a girl, there's the chance she'll be a total bitch like I was. I was annoying! I don't want to deal with that!"

Morgan leaned back and laughed. He looked at her with a smile.

"Well, don't worry, Jess. I'm not looking to have kids."

She nodded.

"That's actually a relief."

Before they could continue their conversation, they were interrupted by the sound of heels clinking on stone. Morgan and Jess turned to see a young, smartly dressed blonde walking up to their house with a cameraman and soundman in tow.

"Excuse me! Hi!" she called, "can I come in?"

Morgan and Jess looked at each other.

"Uh, who are you?" Morgan asked.

The blonde smiled sweetly.

"I'm Christine Wilbur, Channel 2 News in New York City. I'm out here to do a report on the cult that was operating here!"

She reached into her jacket pocket and withdrew a slip of paper.

"I understand you're… Deputy Morgan Rook?"

Morgan nodded warily.

"That's me…"

"Great! Can I ask you a few questions?"

Morgan paused.

"Uh, sure, I guess."

Jess narrowed her eyes.

"Morgan…"

"Come on, how bad could it be?"

"Oh, do you want to say some things too?" Christine asked Jess.

Jess scowled, causing the reporter's bright expression to fade slightly.

"You don't want me on camera."

"Uh, okay, whatever you want. That's fine!" Christine said cheerfully.

Morgan got up from his seat and walked to the end of the walkup.

"That's Jess. My girlfriend," he explained to the reporter as Jess smirked from her spot.

"Right. Um, so, Deputy Rook, I'm just going to ask you a few questions and just say whatever you think is appropriate."

"Sounds good."

Christine cleared her throat.

"So, deputy, what do you think caused the cult to come into Hope County?" she asked before thrusting her mic in his face.

"I would say the isolation and sparse population, not to mention plenty of space to go and build up their forces without anyone noticing."

"And what do you credit the successful resistance effort that you and other county residents mounted to?"

Morgan thought about that one for a moment.

"I think that the lack of people living in Hope means everyone knows each other and we're all family, like it or not. When our friends and neighbors started to get killed, everyone just sort of came together. It helped that we were very, very well armed, too."

Christine nodded once before moving on.

"I've spoken to other people around town and they all tell me you're a hero who saved the entire county. What do you think about that?"

Morgan smirked.

"I'm no hero. I'm not. I'm not superhuman. I had other people watching my back. Like my girlfriend. That's how we met," he said while motioning to Jess. The cameraman swung his camera at Jess, who shot a nasty look at the camera at first but softened and began to laugh when she saw Morgan staring proudly at her.

"I see."

"Basically, everyone came together and fought back against the people who wanted to take everything from us. We weren't going to just lie down and let the cult rule the county and we certainly weren't going quietly. Everyone did their part."

Christine signaled her cameraman to cut and nodded to Morgan.

"Okay, deputy, thank you. That should be good. Be sure to tune to CBS New York at around 3 o'clock your time! We'll air this story during the 5 o'clock news block. Thanks for taking the time, deputy."

Morgan shook hands with the reporter before she departed. He returned to his seat with Jess soon after.

"I don't like her," Jess grumbled.

Morgan chuckled.

"You don't like most people."

"That's true."

"Well, we're gonna be famous!"

Jess snorted.

"Oh, yeah? Can't say I really want to be."

"Eh. Me neither. But, I guess it'll be good that people around the country knows what happened here."

She shrugged.

"Maybe that'll mean a bunch of fuckin' tourists will start showing up."

Jess leaned back, causing her chair to creak and Boomer to perk up.

"I fuckin' hate tourists."

* * *

In the Spread Eagle, Morgan, Jess, Mary, Whitehorse, Nick, Kim, Hurk, Grace, and several others crowded around Mary's laptop to watch the live CBS news report. They were all interested to see what people on the other side of the country were hearing about the situation in Hope County.

In the newsroom, a stern looking red-haired woman sat at the desk, where a digitally imposed nametag identified her as Dana LaRoche.

" _Welcome back to the broadcast, I'm Dana LaRoche. We start tonight with more on the cult takeover in Montana. Our Christine Wilbur was in Hope County today, talking with various residents about their feelings during what is quickly becoming one of the most shocking series of events in recent history._ "

The scene cut to Christine standing outside of Fall's End, right next to the wooden sign that welcomed people to the town.

" _The people of Hope County fought a war in their own backyards for two months against Eden's Gate, a fanatical religious order bent on taking over the entire county. I talked to various residents about what they felt during these trying times._ "

A quick cut revealed Kim Rye in front of her home, holding baby Nicole. A few people congratulated her for making the news.

" _I was worried for my husband and daughter, who wasn't born yet. My husband Nick wanted to get out, but I managed to get him to stay. We needed to fight._ "

Back to Christine.

" _Despite being outnumbered and outgunned by the heavily armed cult, many residents took up arms and fought back, determined not to lose their home_."

The next scene was on the sheriff, who was being interviewed in front of the county jail. Hurk exclaimed he was now "famous."

" _Hope County is our home and we weren't going to give up without a fight. And I'm especially proud of my deputies for taking the fight to the cult._ "

Christine came back into view.

" _Many I spoke to were afraid for their lives and their loved one's lives. But more than a few were particularly motivated to fight back_."

It was revealed that Christine had taken the time to interview Hurk Drubman, Junior. Morgan managed to contain his laughter at the thought of what how some city slickers would react hearing the things coming out of the younger Drubman.

" _Hell, yeah, I fought the cult! Me and my man Morgan rolled up on them this one time, and I'm telling you, miss, I just leaned out, took out my rocket launcher and-"_

Hurk on the television used his hands to mimic an explosion.

" _Boom, baby! Bet you their Father couldn't see that one coming!_ "

"Jesus Christ, Hurk," Jess mumbled, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

He laughed and shrugged.

"What? I had fun! I thought the folks in NYC should know that!"

The room turned their attention back to the laptop. Now, Mary was on screen, who blushed and smiled sheepishly when she saw her own visage.

"Dammit, I hate hearing recordings of myself. I sound like a parrot."

"I think it's pretty cool you're on national television. Look- they even have you listed as 'Mayor Mary Fairgrave,'" Morgan observed.

" _It was tough, but we managed. And we managed because we all came together and pulled through when everyone needed it most_ ," the onscreen Mary spoke.

"Like a fuckin' parrot," Mary mumbled.

" _A common opinion held by many residents was the presence of personal firearms and other weapons that enabled them to resist effectively_ ," Christine said onscreen.

The scene cut to Hurk Drubman, Senior. Much like his son, Morgan imagined that the elder Drubman would leave quite an impression on the unprepared viewers.

The senate hopeful sat in the patio chair he could usually be found in, an AR-15 across his lap.

" _What I think is that if those Obama-loving libtards had their way and took our guns, then the damn cult would've killed or converted every red-blooded man, woman, child, and animal in the entire county!_ "

"Well, that certainly helps the case for keeping our guns," Grace snarked.

" _But, there was a common consensus among everyone I spoke to. It seems that one man was responsible for leading the charge to take back Hope County_ ," Christine spoke into her mic.

Morgan could feel all eyes on the room turn to him.

"Guys…" he began meekly.

"You're a fuckin' celebrity, man!" Hurk congratulated.

He felt Jess squeeze his thigh. Morgan looked up to see her smiling at him.

There were several quick cuts back to the previous interviewees.

" _Deputy Rook helped me and my daughter more times than I can count_ ," Kim said proudly.

" _Deputy Morgan Rook was absolutely vital to making sure the cult did not win_ ," Whitehorse with a tone indicating his pride in his deputy.

" _I told you- Morgan is the man! Coolest cop I've ever met, well, uh, besides me, since I'm a cop now and I think I'm pretty cool_ ," Hurk Junior said.

" _Deputy Rook saved my life. He saved a lot of people's lives_ ," Mary firmly said.

" _That deputy is a true American hero! You hear that, liberals?! That's what a real American is like! Not some Commie like that damn Bernie Sanders-"_  Hurk Senior started to rant before being abruptly cut off.

" _Indeed,"_  Christine started, " _many had a high opinion of Deputy Morgan Rook and I went to go speak with the man many credited for being instrumental in defeating cult leader Joseph Seed and his lieutenants._ "

There was a brief shot of Morgan and Jess sitting together on their porch. They were talking to each other, but no words could be discerned. This shot was probably taken before Morgan or Jess noticed the news crew arrive. At one point, he gently gripped her hand.

"Well, at least all those girls in New York will know you're spoken for," Jess whispered to him.

" _Morgan Rook is a junior deputy, a recent addition to the Hope County Sheriff's Department. During the war against Eden's Gate, Deputy Rook is said to have been the tip of the spear in the fight against the cult. But, if you ask him, he could not have done it alone_ ," Christine said in a voiceover.

" _We weren't going to just lie down and let the cult rule the county and we certainly weren't going quietly. Everyone did their part_ ," Morgan onscreen said, a snippet from his earlier conversation.

" _Despite being praised by much of the county, Deputy Rook remains quite humble_ ," Christine said in another voiceover.

" _And despite the chaos and fighting, he proved that love can bloom_ ," she added.

" _I'm no hero. I'm not. I'm not superhuman. I had other people watching my back. Like my girlfriend. That's how we met_ ," Morgan said in another snippet.

The camera came back to Christine, who held her mic and smiled.

" _Despite the efforts of Joseph Seed and Eden's Gate, the best of human nature was not extinguished. From Fall's End, Montana, this is Christine Wilbur. Back to you, Dana_."

" _Thank you, Christine_ ," Dana said back in the newsroom.

" _Today, opening statements were held in Helena, Montana in the trial of Joseph Seed, the leader of Eden's Gate. Seed faces numerous charges, from unlawful weapons possession to first degree murder. Gary Yates is outside of the Lewis and Clark Justice Court today._ "

The scene transitioned to where a bald man holding a mic with one hand stood on the sidewalk of the Helena courthouse. Behind him, numerous police officers held back a crowd of media personnel.

" _Thank you, Dana. There was a heavy police presence in the area surrounding the courthouse. The FBI is keeping a watchful eye for any attempts by Joseph Seed's followers to spring him from custody. Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom, but it has been reported that Seed refuses to consult with his court appointed attorney. Furthermore, Seed had to be reprimanded multiple times for interrupting the proceedings with rants and quotes from scripture. There were many hoping to witness the alleged cult leader being walked into court._ "

There was a cut to Gary walking quickly to keep pace with Joseph, who looked quite out of place in an orange prison jumpsuit, his arms shackled together while two FBI agents escorted him. The cult leader's typically well-groomed hair was let down and bobbed as he walked. He looked quite unrecognizable without the man-bun. However, he had been able to retain his yellow tinted glasses.

" _Joseph, do you have anything to say?_ " Gary asked as he shoved the mic in Joseph's face, competing with several other reporters for the opportunity to hear what Joseph had to say.

He turned to look into the camera. It looked as if he was locking his icy blue eyes with the viewers themselves.

" _All I know is that God still has a plan for me_ ," he said calmly.

The scene shifted back to the present.

" _The trial will continue for the rest of the week. The first witnesses are expected to be bought in on Wednesday. Live in Helena, Montana, this is Gary Yates._ "

After his report, the news moved on to unrelated news. Mary closed the broadcast as the viewers began to talk amongst themselves.

"Damn, Morgan. They got your good side," Nick joked while clapping the deputy on the shoulder.

"They're all my good sides, brother!" Morgan exclaimed.

Jess grabbed his hand and kissed him on the cheek.

"Indeed, they are," she said.

Kim came over, smiling at the couple.

"So, guys, you want to come over for dinner tonight?" she inquired to Morgan and Jess.

They both nodded.

"We'd love to!" Morgan said with a smile.

"Shit, yeah!" Jess confirmed.

Kim smiled.

"See, Nick was supposed to invite you guys but…"

Nick grinned sheepishly.

"Carmina needed a fresh coat of paint, okay?"

* * *

"Goddamn, this is good," Jess spoke between chews. Her mouth was full of white rice and beef teriyaki, freshly cooked by Kim.

"Chew your food first, Jess," Morgan scolded. 

She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, sorry,  _dad_ ," she said sarcastically.

Kim giggled.

"Thanks, Jess. Have you seriously not ever had teriyaki anything before?"

She snorted.

"Kim, I've never been outside of Montana. So, my choices were limited to whatever my folks picked up or, later on, whatever bear or deer I bagged."

Jess held up a forkful of beef.

"But I much prefer this. Morgan, can you add 'teriyaki sauce' to the shopping list?"

"Way ahead of you," he confirmed.

She smiled sweetly.

"That's why I love you so much."

"So," Kim started, "when did you guys start seeing each other?"

"It's been like… a week now, actually. But it's been an eventful one. That's for sure."

"Seems it," Nick commented.

"Reminds me of when we met," Kim said. "Goddamn, we were cute. Nick kept holding my hand. Holding doors for me. Making me meals. Such a gentleman."

"I think we're pretty cute too," Jess said.

Kim laughed at that.

"Hell yeah, you guys are."

* * *

Morgan was impressed about how well Kim and Jess got along. Kim was friendly, outgoing, and always looking to make friends- the exact opposite of Jess. Morgan voiced this to Nick as the two men sat on his porch, drinking some beers and chatting. In the distance, the skies were turning shades of red, orange, and yellow. Very picturesque.

"Well, Kim just has this ability to get people talking. I don't know how she does it," Nick mused as he set down his beer. Kim and Jess were still inside, talking about their experiences hunting. Kim was still a novice and Jess was trying her best to explain her hunting techniques in a layperson's terms.

"She's something, though," Nick added.

Morgan nodded.

"Yep. That's one way to put it."

"You know, man, I've never really talked to her. But… I actually can't say I really expected this."

"What? Us being together?"

Nick nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, no offense, I'm really glad it all happened for you guys. You both are really goddamn cute together. But I always got this impression she was a total loner. She barely showed up to town and rarely talked to anyone when she did. And when she did, she just mumbled some curses and walked away."

Morgan nodded as well.

"That sounds like her. I will admit- she's not your usual girl and you have to really get to know her to just appreciate everything she does and who she is. Somehow, I managed to get there," Morgan said with a laugh.

"So, what do you think, man? You want to be with her for a while? I know that might be too early to ask, but I think it's good to get your feelings in order about that," Nick said.

Morgan thought about it for a moment.

"I do. Yeah, for sure. I do love her. She's… unlike anyone I've ever met before."

Nick smiled and nodded in remembrance.

"Yeah, I know that feeling. I felt that way when I met Kim. It's a good sign."

He leaned over to elbow Morgan and lowered his tone.

"So, uh, you proposing or what?"

Morgan chuckled.

"Let's slow down there. It's only been a week."

"Yeah? So?"

Morgan grinned.

"Hm, you're right. No, really. I just want to get settled in and let everything sort of recover from all this cult shit. Plus, I don't want to freak her out by talking about getting married so early. Yes, we do love each other and all that, but that's okay. Because we do love each other, we don't have to rush. We can take out time."

Nick smiled at his friend and raised his beer bottle. Morgan raised his own and clinked it to his.

"Wise words, Morgan. You got the months ahead of you."


	9. The Months

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy this very long chapter and let me know what you think! Thanks for your continued support, of course.

* * *

_June_

* * *

"You look nice."

Jess was looking over herself in the mirror of the hotel room when she heard Morgan behind her.

"You think?" she asked suspiciously.

Morgan smiled, hands in the pockets of his uniform pants.

"Sure do."

Jess looked herself over once more and groaned. Her court appearance required her to dress neatly. No jeans. No t-shirts or hoodies or any of her usual fare. Jess borrowed some clothes from Grace and Mary- a white blouse, blue blazer and black slacks. She could not even wear the boots she usually wore, so Morgan bought her a pair of pumps.

"I fuckin' hate dressing up. It's just so…"

"Unnatural? Not you?" he suggested.

She nodded.

"Yeah, something like that."

Morgan came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her on the cheek.

"It's only for a few hours, my love."

Jess closed her eyes and smiled.

"Call me that again," she told him.

"What?"

"The thing you just called me!"

"My love," he said while smirking.

She laughed.

"What's so funny?" Morgan asked, also laughing.

"You sound so old-fashioned. It's what my granny would've called me."

Morgan chuckled and gave a shrug.

"What can I say? I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy."

Jess turned on her feet so she faced him. She placed her hands around his shoulders and kissed him.

"You look handsome. As always," she whispered, running her hands down his uniform shirt.

"You look beautiful as ever," he assured her.

Jess broke away, laughing.

"I know I look awkward as fuck. You don't have to flatter me!"

"What?! It's true, you know!" Morgan whined.

She rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

* * *

The area around the Helena courthouse where Joseph Seed was being put on trial was cordoned off, not that it affected the city traffic so much. Either way, residents of Helena were not used to their sleepy mountain city being the center of so much attention.

FBI agents wielding assault rifles and wearing full body armor patrolled the block. Explosive detectors were on every corner around the building. Snipers were perched on the rooftop, scanning the vicinity. All these measures were taken because many people feared Joseph's fanatics would try something to spring their Father out of custody.

Morgan and Jess were both picked up by an armored FBI SUV, which was escorted by both FBI vehicles and Helena Police Department personnel. When they got to the courthouse, media personnel were being held back by the police, which did not deter them from shouting questions to Morgan and Jess from behind the cordon.

Wordlessly, Jess reached over to squeeze his hand as they walked inside the building. Both of them were immediately ushered into the lobby, also heavily guarded by FBI agents and police officers.

Grace, also wearing her uniform, was already inside, as was Mary. They sat together on a nearby bench, just outside the large closed doors to the courtroom. Morgan and Jess sat next to them.

"The sheriff is already inside. He's been in there for the past hour or so," Mary said.

"Well, he is the sheriff. They must think he has a lot to say about this," Morgan theorized.

Jess nodded.

"What the hell will they want from me then?" she wondered aloud.

The doors to the courtroom swung open and Sheriff Whitehorse exited, escorted by a bailiff. He nodded to his companions.

"Well, they're done with me," he told them.

"Morgan Rook?" the bailiff asked the lone man sitting there.

Morgan nodded.

"That's me."

"You're up."

Morgan nodded once more and got up.

"Wish me luck."

"You got this, Morgan. You know Joseph more than we do, I would say," Mary encouraged.

"Yeah. That's what worries me."

* * *

As he entered the silent courtroom, Morgan felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was at this moment he realized something that should have been obvious. He would be coming face-to-face with the Father again. Seed. The crazy fucker who started all of this.

Morgan took a deep breath and glanced over to the defendant's table. He immediately recognized Seed, who did not cease staring forward. Morgan looked around and saw that assault rifle wielding cops and FBI agents were posted around the room. The possibility of Eden's Gate coming in and trying to reclaim Joseph was certainly a fear.

The bailiff led Morgan to the witness's stand. Next, the bailiff held out a copy of the Bible, which Morgan placed his hand on.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"Yes," Morgan affirmed before sitting down.

The judge presiding over the case was Harland Thompson, an older, balding, spectacle-wearing man that looked precisely what everyone thought of when the word "judge" was bought up. He looked at Morgan briefly without saying a word.

Morgan moved his eyes and saw that Joseph was staring at him. The Father wore a neutral, almost relaxed expression, as if he did not care that in a few days' time, he would mostly likely be pumped full of lethal chemicals.

Unseen by anyone else in the room, Joseph's mouth curled into the slightest hint of a grin as he looked at Morgan. In response, Morgan exhaled and forced himself to look away.

The prosecutor stepped up from his chair and walked towards Morgan. Earlier, Morgan learned the prosecutor was Vincent Carter, a handsome, relatively young man with black hair slicked back into a style that must take a fair amount of time in the morning to get right.

"Deputy Rook," Vincent began, "thank you for joining us. I understand you are one of Sheriff Whitehorse's deputies, correct?"

Morgan thought that was a supremely stupid question. He was not wearing the uniform of a Hope County Sheriff's Deputy as a fashion statement. Morgan supposed it was a formality.

"That's correct," Morgan replied.

Vincent smirked.

"Were you with Sheriff Whitehorse on the night of March 25th? The date in which Marshal Cameron Burke attempted to serve a warrant on Joseph Seed?"

Morgan nodded.

"I was."

"Can you please recount the events of that night for the court?"

It was not like Morgan could ever forget the events of that fateful night. He sometimes wondered if slapping the cuffs on Joseph's wrists was the right choice. Other times, Sheriff Whitehorse's words bounced around in his head.

 _Sometimes it's best to leave well enough alone_.

Pushing those thoughts out of his brain, Morgan licked his lips before beginning.

"We arrived by helicopter outside of the compound where Joseph led. The team assisting Marshal Burke that night consisted of me, the sheriff, and deputies Joey Hudson and Staci Pratt. We were… quite one edge as we were immediately surrounded and outnumbered by heavily armed Peg- uh, cult members. Deputy Pratt stayed with our helicopter while me, the Marshal, Sheriff Whitehorse, and Deputy Hudson continued onward. We reached his church and I detained Joseph. The cult members became agitated as they saw us leaving… we were forced to draw our weapons… and when we attempted to exfiltrate, the cultists… bought down our helicopter."

"And how did they manage to do that? Did they have rocket launchers?" Vincent asked.

"Yes, uh, I mean, no, not that night. One of the cultists… threw himself into the rotors of our helicopter, disabling it."

His comment elicited a gasp from the jury.

"Okay, Deputy Rook, thank you. So, your sheriff has informed me that you are quite familiar with how Joseph Seed operated."

"I would say so, yes."

"Why is that?"

"Um, during our battle with Eden's Gate in Hope County, I… did much for the local resistance forces in taking back Hope County from Joseph Seed and his forces. I, uh, you could say I aroused his ire. Several times."

"Can you tell me anything about his methods?"

"What do you mean by methods?"

Vincent nodded thoughtfully.

"I would like the court to know about how Joseph treated those who wished not to join his congregation."

"Well…" Morgan started. There could be much he could talk about in that regard.

"Joseph and his siblings, well his two brothers and 'adopted' sister, each operated in a different region of the county and utilized various methods to gain new converts. I should note that few converts at this point came willingly. Anyway, John Seed, he was the public face of Eden's Gate. He preached love and family. He had this philosophy where everyone should just say 'yes' to whatever the cult needed. When people resisted his attempts, he would… kidnap them, imprison them, and make them repent."

"In what ways? Would he convince them?" Vincent asked in a tone that suggested he already knew the answer.

"Yes, in a way. He would… interrogate everyone and deduce their sin. Then, he would tattoo that sin on that person's body. And then rip it off with his knife."

The vague description Morgan gave was enough to cause the jury to murmur in horror at the idea.

"And this was completely unwilling for the people John converted, correct?"

"Yes," Morgan confirmed.

"Okay. Tell me about the other siblings, if you would."

"Then there was Jacob Seed. He was the man who trained the cult's fighters. He was more into straight up murder and torture. And brainwashing."

"Brainwashing?" Vincent said, sounding surprised.

"Yeah. He did it to me," Morgan said, leaving it at that.

"Well, that's something. Please continue."

"And we had Faith. Not her real name. She was barely a woman before Joseph came into her life and plied her with drugs and promises of a family. She willingly became his Siren. She used manipulation of any kind to get people to fall into the life of the cult. Oh, and lots of drugs. Lots and lots of drugs."

"And all these things- Joseph ordered this all?"

"Joseph had his forces kill, steal, and maim all over the county for two months. He believed the end was near and that they needed to prepare. They took what they wanted by force."

"Right. Thank you, deputy."

Vincent returned to his seat.

Judge Thompson turned to the defendant's table, where Joseph sat still, not reacting to Morgan's words.

"Does the defense have anything to say to this?" he asked.

Joseph's short and portly public defender gathered up his papers and rose from his seat. Morgan had read the man was named Walt Stanton and he had been appointed to Joseph despite the man's insistence to not have a legal counsel.

"Uh, yes, Deputy Rook, I just want to ask you something," Walt said.

He looked down at his papers.

"Would you say Joseph Seed is a man of sound mind?"

Morgan almost laughed before realizing that Walt was attempting to insist that Joseph was mentally ill and thus unable to truly comprehend what he was doing. Montana disallowed the insanity defense, so this would probably be the next best thing.

"No, no I wouldn't. Not by any means. Without even getting into the whole 'God spoke to me' part, I don't think anyone of sound mind can put into motion what Joseph ended up wreaking upon Hope County."

There was single low laugh from the Father. All eyes in the court turned to him.

"Do you really think that, deputy?" he finally said to Morgan- the first time he had spoken to Morgan since their final encounter at his compound.

Vincent stood up.

"Your honor-"

The judge banged his gavel twice.

"Is the defense done with questions for Deputy Rook?"

"Yes, your honor," Walt said with a nod.

"I would like for the defendant to come up to the stand and respond to the deputy's testimony," he added after a moment.

Judge Thompson nodded.

"Very well."

The bailiff strode over first to Morgan and escorted him off the stand to the spectator's area before heading to Joseph and hauling him up to the witness's stand.

He put the Bible in front of Joseph and told him to swear as he did to Morgan.

Joseph slowly placed a hand on the Bible and smiled.

"Yes," he said coolly.

Walt walked out, looking at his notes.

"Is Deputy Rook correct in his description of the events and methods of Eden's Gate?"

"Absolutely," Joseph replied.

"And why did-" Walt attempted to say before Joseph stood up from his seat.

"What the deputy does not mention is… I  _tried_  to help him. He is a sinner. Just like all of you. And me."

Judge Thompson slammed his gavel.

"Enough of this-"

"I tried! I tried to save him as I have saved others!" he suddenly shouted, causing several in the court to recoil in surprise.

"Joseph Seed, calm down or I will hold you in contempt of court!" Judge Thompson snapped.

Joseph closed his eyes and exhaled sharply before sitting down.

"All of you want to think that I'm insane. That I'm a psychopath. I can promise you that everything I have done and will do is with a clear mind. I wanted to get away from society for this very reason. When I began preaching and building my flock, you were all scared of me and what I stood for. There have always been snakes trying to burn our garden with their laws and their government. I said 'no' to that. And God is still leading me. He knows the way. He will lead us to Eden's Gate."

The courtroom was dead silent.

The judge exhaled sharply.

"If no one has any more questions for Deputy Rook, then I believe he is done here," he said. "Bailiff, please see him out."

Morgan stood up as the bailiff escorted Morgan out of the courtroom.

"Bring in Jess Black next!" the judge said as Morgan exited.

* * *

"Can you please tell me how Joseph influenced you?" Vincent asked as Jess stared at Joseph, hate in her eyes. She just wanted to start screaming obscenities at the cult leader, but she was not trying to go to jail either.

Joseph stared back at her. There was not hate in reply. Just a vague look of… amusement.

"A few years ago, his brother Jacob had one of his zealots break into my house and kidnapped me and my family."

"Who exactly?" Vincent asked.

"Well, me, obviously. My dad, Russell. My mom, Juliet. And my brother, Travis."

Vincent nodded once.

"And what did this cultist do? And did he have a name?"

Jess shrugged.

"He was just called 'the Cook.' That's it."

"Right. What did the Cook do?"

Leaning into her chair, Jess recalled the events she could vividly remember even several years later.

"He held us in a cage for days with no food and not a drop of water. We had to drink our own piss. Me and Travis vomited it up, as most people would, but my parents said we didn't have much of a choice."

There were mutterings from the jury.

"And then what?" Vincent asked, encouraging her to continue.

"The short version? Strung up my parents. Cut off their toes. Forced me to eat them," Jess explained plainly.

That did it. The jury shouted, several in disgust. She heard one woman exclaim "Jesus  _fucking_  Christ!"

The judge used to gavel to restore order.

"I had the Cook do that because I love you."

Jess snapped her head towards Joseph, who was sitting back and smiling.

"I just wanted you to see the truth. You and your family were good people. They deserved to see the Collapse through," Joseph said in a tone similar to a parent trying to explain something to a child.

Jess snorted and shot up from her seat.

"You call that love? You call torturing and murdering and terrorizing innocent people just trying to live their lives 'love?' You have  _no idea_  what love means!" Jess spat.

"Enough! Both of you!" Judge Thompson commanded.

Jess ignored him.

"You know something, Joseph? Despite everything you've done, everything you and your whole fuckin' army of madmen have done, we won. I won. And I found out what it means to truly be loved and to love."

"Then you should know my love is infinite, Miss Black," Joseph calmly replied.

"You love nothing except yourself, Joseph," Jess scoffed.

Judge Thompson moved to bang his gavel but did not. It was as if he, along with the rest of the court, wanted to hear what Jess had to say.

"If you really loved everyone as you claim, then you wouldn't have tried to kill half the county because they didn't want to do what you said. You killed people I loved. Is that right? Is that love, Joseph?"

He shook his head slowly.

"I don't expect you to understand why I did the things I did. I did those things because it was the only way to prevent you from becoming just another lost sinner. I heard stories about you, Jessica. I wanted to help. Like I had so many others."

Jess smirked humorlessly.

"You know, the one good thing that came out of all this shit is I met Morgan. You know, the guy who fucked up your whole operation and basically bought you down? Yeah, I'm sure you remember him. Well, I'll tell you this, asshole, we're together. I'm not even sure  _why_  I'm telling you this, but here I am. And he showed me what it means when someone says they love you. You just say you love people. You don't. You love yourself and that's it. Morgan showed me what it means to have someone say they love you and actually mean it."

She looked around the courtroom, seeing how everyone was hanging on her every word. Jess felt herself turn red at the attention of so many.

"So, uh, yeah. Fuck you, Seed."

"Alright, that's enough. Get her out of here," The judge ordered the bailiff, who escorted her out of the courtroom.

While she ended up not getting charged with contempt of court, her words and actions quickly became spread across the media once they caught wind of it.

It felt good, getting that all out. It really did.

As she saw Morgan standing up as she exited, she smiled. A warm smile that said "I got shit done."

* * *

_July_

* * *

"What do you think?"

Morgan looked over at Jess.

"I think it's ugly."

She rolled her eyes.

"Morgan… we need a goddamn couch. Just pick one!"

"I will!" he countered, "just not this one! Look at it! It's the same color of a mustard bottle! It clashes with the rest of the furniture!"

"It's really not that bad…"

"It is, though."

Jess rolled her eyes once more, feeling that if she rolled them any harder, they would roll into her skull. They had already bought plenty of new furniture for the house, but Morgan had spent the last two hours in Lowe's picking out a couch he liked. They had driven the forty minutes out of Hope County to neighboring Missoula County, which was practically cosmopolitan compared to Hope. As such, Jess was supremely out of her element.

When they got to the "big city" of Missoula, Morgan had to convince Jess to leave her bow in the truck, lest they arouse the ire of local police for open carrying.

"I like that one," he said, motioning to a simple, light grey set.

Jess looked at the couch and back to him.

"You're fucking kidding me, right?"

Morgan looked at her oddly.

"What did I do?"

"I asked you if you liked that couch  _fifteen minutes ago_!" she snapped, gesturing forcefully at the couch.

"You did?"

"Yes, yes I did!"

"No, you didn't!"

"I'm pretty sure I did…" Jess started, sounding annoyed.

"You sure?"

"I am  _very_  sure."

"No, wait… I think it was that one over there you were talking about earlier," Morgan said, pointing to a sky-blue couch a row over.

Jess paced a few steps, hands on her head. Morgan looked on awkwardly.

"Oh, my fucking God, Morgan. I didn't," she groaned.

After a few moments of silence, Morgan clicked his tongue.

"So, this is how our relationship ends. Arguing over a couch."

Jess paused and looked at him, hands still on her head. She just chuckled once and broke into a smile.

How could she  _possibly_  be mad at him?

"Ah, shit. Looks like it," she said with a sigh.

Morgan shrugged.

"Been nice knowing you."

"Yep. It was fun," she jokingly lamented.

After another brief moment of silence, they both laughed.

"Okay, forget it," Jess said. "Just pick one and let's go."

"Alrighty then. Let's go with grey. Is that okay?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, whatever gets us out of here."

* * *

"You missed a spot," Jess said, not looking away from the section of wall she moved her paint roller across.

Morgan paused his own rolling and squinted to examine where she indicated.

"I did not!"

"You're right. I'm fuckin' with you," she said.

Morgan groaned.

"I should've caught onto that the first three times," he muttered.

Jess smiled sweetly.

"You should know me by now, babe."

They had spent the last few days putting a fresh coat of white paint on the exterior of their home, which did much to bring some new life into the simple residence that both Morgan and Jess began to feel felt more and more like a home with each passing day.

Their new furniture replaced the older, worn out pieces left behind by the Caldwells and the interior was spruced up with new rugs and some paintings Morgan purchased from the various hipster artists that lived in the area. Jess was doubtful of the validity of some of the things he bought as art. Morgan joked she was just an "uncultured redneck."

Whatever. Jess was more into the art of killing things anyway.

As they moved on to the porch, Morgan and Jess laid out some old newspapers to prevent the paint from splashing on the floor.

The front page of a three-day old issue of  _The Hope County Chronicle_ read  _Cult Leader Sentenced to 150 Years in Prison_.

With that, the story of the Project at Eden's Gate was over.

Joseph Seed had managed to avoid the death penalty, but would be locked up in federal supermax prison and never see the outside world again.

The Collapse never came.

Eden's Gate lost. Hope County and the people who called it home prevailed.

And that was that.

There were certainly still a few stubborn cultists clinging to their cause, even a month after the unofficial end of the war. But their numbers were being reduced more and more with each passing day. After Joseph's conviction was announced, Morgan heard from the sheriff that the National Guard estimated that over ninety five percent of all remaining cultists had given up. They came out of the mountains and woods and threw down their weapons, finally realizing that there was just no hope for them left.

It was estimated that any cultists who  _still_ persisted even now were those who were truly fanatical, even more so than the average Peggie. Or were seriously mentally ill. Possibly both. Either way, Major Sutton believed that less than a hundred cultists were still around. Maybe even less than eighty.

There had been no incidents between Hope County residents and Eden's Gate followers in weeks. Few had even seen a Peggie "in the wild" in the same amount of time. Morgan and Grace were some of the few who had the misfortune of doing so.

People were coming back to Hope County. Formally abandoned houses were being filled. The roads, bridges, and tunnels were cleared and repaired. Mail service returned to the county. Stores were reopened. Generally, things were pretty much back to normal.

In Fall's End, the government paid for the rebuilding of the burned down houses and provided a low-interest loan to the county government to build a new sheriff's office, hall of records, bank, and county meeting hall in Fall's End.

The new Hope County Sheriff's Office was completed a few days earlier, after just a week and a half of construction. It was a modern, modular building built in separate pieces at a factory before being assembled on site. The new building was a stark contrast to the creaky, practically ancient wood and brick building Morgan was introduced to when he became a deputy.

"Well, I think that's enough for today," Morgan declared as they finished painting the front wall.

Jess nodded proudly, fanning herself with the collar of her shirt.

"I agree. Looks better already."

"Let's go inside and shower. It's hot as fuck out," Morgan said as they put away their tools.

"Sounds like a plan!"

"So, you want to go first?" he asked her.

Jess grinned suggestively, leaning against the doorframe.

"It's big enough for two people, babe."

* * *

The next day was a very big one for the people of Hope County- July 4th.

For most of the country, it was a celebration of American independence and a day filled with barbecues, beach trips, and fireworks.

In Hope County, it was certainly all those things, but also a day to celebrate freedom from the fear that had dominated their lives for the past few years. Plenty of American flags were waved and the Sheriff's Department was concerned mostly with people starting forest fires with fireworks.

Morgan and Grace both were on duty today in Holland Valley, making sure no one was driving drunk, getting too rowdy, or discharging firearms in a dangerous manner. They had both stopped by Fall's End, where Mary was hosting a large barbecue attended by the entire town and beyond.

The two deputies sat on the tailgate of their patrol truck, eating burgers and hotdogs. They were not drinking, as they were both still on duty. Morgan watched Jess mingling in the crowd, or at least he called it "mingling." She still was not a people person and would only engage others if she got engaged first.

Jess looked over to Morgan and smiled at him. He waved at her briefly, smiling back. Mary came over to Jess and offered her a burger before the two women began a conversation. Morgan could not hear what they were talking about, but Jess was laughing. It was a good sign.

"She looks happy," Grace observed.

He nodded.

"I like to think I keep her happy,"

Grace chuckled.

"So, when you guys getting married?"

Morgan shrugged.

"People keep asking me that. Don't you think it's a bit early to be asking that?"

"I've seen people marry sooner."

He chuckled and shook his head.

"And how many of those people are still together?"

Grace smiled.

"Hm, maybe you're right."

"I most certainly am."

They both turned their attention back to the revelers and ate their food.

"So, you'll invite me to the wedding, right?" Grace asked after a moment.

Morgan laughed.

"Of course I will!"

The radio on Morgan's hip crackled, causing him to take it into his hand.

" _Morgan, Grace, you there? Over_ ," Jenny said.

"We're here, over."

" _Mr. Green at the fertilizer store reported someone suspicious snooping around. I hate to disturb you guys while you're eating, but can you check it out? Over._ "

Morgan looked over at Grace, who smirked and shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. We'll take care of it, over."

Grace was already gathering up her gear and moving to the cab of the truck.

"I'll drive," she said.

* * *

During the war against Eden's Gate, the Green-Busch Fertilizer Co. was taken over by the cult, who used the mounds of fertilizer to manufacture IEDs. Percival Green, one of the proprietors, was a hard, no-nonsense man in his late 60s, who was forced to flee Hope County after the second half of the company's name, Harry Busch, joined up with Eden's Gate and attempted to kill his former partner after Green protested giving over the company to the cult. After things calmed down, Green was able to return and get back to business as usual.

When Morgan and Grace arrived, Green walked out of the office clutching an ancient double-barreled shotgun. Normally, approaching two police officers while brandishing a loaded weapon is highly inadvisable, but this being Hope County, no one minded.

"Mr. Green, is everything okay?" Morgan asked the man, who frowned in reply.

"Hell no it ain't! I was in the office, trying to enjoy some whisky, when I saw some punk cut through the fence and sneak in! I thought it was a Peggie at first, but I figured it was more likely some degenerate from out of county trying to steal chemicals for making drugs. I fired a barrel at him and he ran away."

"I'll go check around the buildings- why don't you go and search the perimeter for anything?" Grace suggested to Morgan, who nodded in agreement.

"Sounds good," he said before departing for the fence.

"Oh, deputy!" Green called, "If you shoot the guy, I'll back you up and say it was justified!"

Morgan shook his head as he walked away, feeling that he had shot enough people already.

There was indeed a large hole in the chain-link fence, probably the product of some bolt cutters. Morgan pushed through the tear and looked around, seeing that someone had crashed through the tall grass. He followed the impromptu trail down to a shallow creek bed, which had mostly dried up by this time of the year.

Morgan looked to the left and saw a figure wearing a green hoodie crouched behind some bushes, obviously trying to see into the fertilizer store.

"Hey! Sheriff's department, don't move!" Morgan shouted.

As expected, the figure got up and sprinting away.

"Get back here!" Morgan commanded as he took off after the suspect.

The chase quickly had them both running through deep woods. While Morgan had hardly reached her level of expertise, hanging out with Jess all this time allowed him to pick up a few things about moving quickly and safely through the woods. His suspect had obviously not had that same luck and swiftly tripped over a tree root, falling flat on their face.

Morgan jumped over the root that felled the prowler and put a knee into their back before wrestling cuffs around their wrists.

"Stop it! Just cool it!" Morgan warned as the suspect grunted and tried to buck Morgan off. Morgan reached over and pulled down the hood they were wearing. The suspect turned to look up a Morgan, who immediately recognized his patchy beard and crooked smile.

Charlemagne Victor Boshaw, the fourth, who preferred Sharky, chuckled awkwardly.

"Uh, hey, deputy," Sharky greeted.

Morgan scoffed and stood up, dragging Sharky up with him.

"What the hell, Sharky?" he snapped.

"Look, man, it's not what it looks like!"

"Were you breaking into Green's fertilizer store?" he questioned.

Sharky looked around frantically.

"Uh, yeah, I mean, no! No, man, not at all. I mean, who wants fertilizer anyway?! It's nasty as shit!"

Morgan just nodded.

"Uh-huh. Right. Why were you breaking in?"

Sharky sighed.

"Come on, Morgan, you're a cool cop… can't you just let me go?"

"If you tell me why, I'll consider it."

Sharky paused, obviously attempting to formulate the least damaging story.

"Okay, man, listen… I wanted to start my own farm."

Morgan nodded suspiciously.

"Is that right?"

Sharky smiled and nodded vigorously.

"Hell yeah, brother! You know, I was just thinking, all this… war and shit… I think a simple life farming would be best for me. Yeah. My PO would like that too!"

Morgan snorted.

"Right. Okay, why did you  _really_  break in?"

Sharky sighed, defeated.

"Okay… look… so today's the Fourth of July, yeah? So, I was out there earlier, shooting some fireworks, and I was just thinking… these fireworks were fuckin' lame. And so… I got an idea! Why not mix something with a little 'oomph' into them and put on the best fireworks show this entire county had ever seen!"

"What did you have in mind?" Morgan said, almost afraid to ask.

"I wanted some ANFO," he admitted after some hesitation.

Morgan felt his mouth open agape.

"Jesus Christ. You were trying to steal a heavily regulated, unstable explosive used in multiple terrorist attacks? Are you  _trying_  to get on the no-fly list?"

"Look, Morgan, it was only a little! Normally, I'd buy it with cash, because you know, I'm a good citizen. But, you need permits for that shit! I ain't got time for permits!"

Morgan sighed and shook his head.

"Sharky, ANFO is extremely dangerous and you have no idea how the hell to properly handle it. You could kill yourself and others. Is that what you want?"

"No man, I don't want to hurt anyone!"

Morgan pulled Sharky close to him and looked into his eyes, making sure that Sharky would get the point he was trying to make.

"Listen- you're my friend. I'll bring you in for trespassing and that's it. If I hear you try some shit like this again, so help me God…"

Sharky held up his hands best he could.

"Okay, yeah, I get it. I'm sorry, bro."

"Alright. Let's go," Morgan ordered as he pushed Sharky forward.

* * *

Sharky sat on the bunk of his jail cell in the Sheriff's Office, head resting on his hands.

"Shit," he mumbled.

"Hopefully this will give you some time to think about what you've done," Sheriff Whitehorse said as Morgan looked on. It was seven thirty at night, time for Morgan to call it quits.

"You setting off any fireworks, son?" Whitehorse asked as he and Morgan walked out of the building.

"None of my own. I'm going to be hanging out with everyone else at the barbecue, just enjoy the night."

"Sounds good, deputy," Whitehorse said.

He slapped Morgan on the shoulder before he left.

"Give Jess my regards," he told Morgan before his deputy departed.

Morgan shook his head and laughed to himself.

 _In a town like this, I guess it's just hard to keep everything to yourself_ , he thought.

Then again, it was nice in a way. Everyone was rooting for them.

* * *

_August_

* * *

Montana summers were hot, but typically short. The people of the state learned to make the most of them before the long, often brutal, winters set in.

Jess suggested taking advantage of an eighty-nine-degree August day by taking a hike. Morgan readily agreed, as he was growing bored of sitting the air-conditioned living room on his day off.

An hour later, as his t-shirt was matted to his back by sweat and moisture dripped into his eyes, Morgan wondered precisely  _why_  he decided to leave the air-conditioned living room.

Jess walked a few paces ahead of him, not being affected by the elements, as usual. Morgan distracted himself from the heat by watching the way her hips swayed back and forth as she walked. She was wearing Daisy Duke-style jean shorts that did much at accentuate her backside and a white shirt rolled up to bare her midriff. It was not her usual look, but Morgan quite enjoyed what he was seeing. He loved when she showed off her figure, since she really was quite a knockout.

What Morgan liked about her, physically anyway, was that every part of her was natural and the product of a life spent in the woods hunting, killing, and surviving. She was toned, fit, but perfectly curvy enough for him in all the right places.

Even when he was a teenager, Morgan never felt himself attracted to supermodels and celebrities that most other men drooled over. They were pretty, sure, but the thing about a supermodel or an actress is that they were so… unnatural. They slathered themselves in makeup, spent time getting spray tanned or implanted with silicon.

No thank you.

Morgan smiled as he watched her legs bound over a fallen log.

 _That's all mine_ , he thought to himself. It was a wonderful feeling.

Morgan was not one for objectifying women, but he was sure Jess would not mind at all. After all, she did say, quote, "you have a really nice ass" a few nights ago.

Before they departed, Jess told Morgan she was leading him to a swimming hole she used to frequent during high school. It was not marked on any official maps, was down an unofficial trail, and Jess said few people knew it even existed.

"Ah, goddamn it!" Morgan exclaimed as a thorn bush dug its spiky barbs into his shorts. Jess turned around and jogged over, laughing at his misfortune.

"Need help there?" she said with a grin as she knelt down to carefully excise the thorns away from his vulnerable fleshy parts.

"This shit better be worth it, Jess," Morgan said, exasperated.

She looked up, grinning.

"I like to think it would."

He laughed once.

"I'll take your word for it. Are we there yet?"

"You asked that fifteen minutes ago," Jess replied as she finally freed Morgan.

"Yeah, exactly. Fifteen minutes ago. I'm sure there's an update by now."

Jess jerked her head down the decline, to an area Morgan could not see past the trees.

"Right down there."

He smiled.

 _Finally_.

"Well, let's get going then!"

Jess bounded down the trail and called over her shoulder.

"Keep the fuck up then!"

Morgan leaped after her, but she was faster. Of course.

He caught up to her and found her standing on the edge of a blue spring surrounded by rocky outcrops. Tall trees sheltered parts of the swimming hole and a small beach took up a small part of the edge near the water.

"Whoa," Morgan mumbled as he saw the breathtakingly beautiful spot Jess had led him to.

"You like?" she asked, smiling.

"Hell yeah! How'd you even find this place?"

She shrugged.

"I kinda stumbled upon it a while ago."

Jess wiped sweat off her brow with the back of her hand. She exhaled and let down her hair, which had been tied up in an attempt to stave off the heat.

"Well, I'm fucking sweating my ass off. Let's go in already."

Morgan looked at her, confused.

"Wait, what? I didn't bring bathing suits."

He immediately figured out her intent when she took off her shirt and threw it to him.

"Let's just do it the old-fashioned way."

Morgan laughed.

"Wait, hold on!" he protested.

Jess tossed her bra to him and went to work on her shorts.

"What?" she asked.

"I-"

"Yes?" she said with a sly smile.

"But… this is illegal!" Morgan weakly objected.

She sighed and shook her head mockingly.

"You're such a fuckin' cop, babe," Jess said sweetly.

She pitched her bottoms and panties to Morgan, who added it to the pile of clothes.

Jess ran to the edge of the outcrop, looking over her shoulder at him.

"If this is illegal- you'll have to come and arrest me!"

Morgan laughed and figured to just go with it.

He jogged forward, taking off his daypack and peeling off his shirt, feeling immediate relief from doing so.

Morgan watched Jess jump off the edge of the rock and heard a splash a second later.

He set down their clothes and his backpack before jumping in after her.

The water was refreshingly cool, just what his body needed on this day. As he surfaced, spitting out water, Jess laughed and pushed wet hair out of her face.

"Well, you're here. Are you going to slap the cuffs on me, deputy?" she teased.

Morgan paddled towards her.

"You're going away for a long time, Black!" he called to her in his most authoritative voice. She giggled, signaling it was not very effective.

"Come and get me, you fuckin' pig!" she said through laughter.

Morgan smiled and paddled after her. Jess used her arms to splash large amounts of water in his direction, stunning him long enough for her to swim away.

"Get back here!" he yelled.

"Gotta try harder than that!"

Morgan took a deep breath and dove under the water. Jess paddled to a part of the spring shallow enough to stand in before looking around frantically, unsure of where he would surface.

She cried out in surprise as Morgan suddenly breached the surface behind her and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug.

"Gotcha!" he proclaimed.

Jess screamed and laughed in equal measure as she tried to squirm out of his grip. She was unsuccessful and Morgan held onto her tightly. Jess did manage to turn and face him and used her fists to lightly assault him and splash water in his face. Truth was; however, Jess did not want him to let go.

At the same moment, both Jess and Morgan ceased their struggles and just stared at each other. Morgan looked into those beautiful teal eyes and watched how the water dripping down her skin glistened in the strong August sun. It was like she was draped with thousands of gemstones. Not to mention that perfectly pretty face she had, enhanced by those scars that Morgan thought were just so fucking sexy. That was another thing he liked about her. She was not conventionally attractive by any means. But she did "attractive" in her own way. Any girl could be "pretty," but no one could be pretty like Jess Black did pretty.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my entire life," Morgan whispered to her, feeling the need to just let that out to her.

She smiled softly.

"You think?"

"Definitely," he said back firmly.

Jess gently kissed him on the lips, a kiss that left Morgan with a heady feeling that felt as hazy as the summer day.

"You ain't so bad yourself, Mr. Rook."

"Oh, I'm glad you feel that way," he joked.

She giggled and buried her head into his chest.

"Okay, sorry, let me revise that. You are so fucking handsome."

"Better," Morgan said with a grin.

She kissed him once more.

"And I love you so much," Jess said to him a low tone.

"I love you too," Morgan whispered.

She laughed.

"God… whenever we talk like this I just… feel…"

"I know what you mean."

Jess chuckled and ran one of her hands down his stubbled cheek.

"I haven't felt anything like this… ever. Shit, I haven't felt _anything_  in particular in a while."

"Does it feel good?" he asked.

She brushed away locks of wet hair off his forehead.

"I much prefer feeling this."

* * *

Later, the two lovers sat on a towel on the nearby beach, drying off in the sun.

"What if a Peggie finds us?" Morgan asked suddenly.

Jess was laying on her back with her finger laced together behind her head. She idly looked over at Morgan.

"I think we should ask if they wanna join us."

"For some reason, I can't imagine that Joseph's groupies would be very good company. Or would want to go skinny dipping," Morgan concluded.

"See, that's their problem," Jess said, "hanging out with Joseph and the other crazy fuckers in the cult has made them way too uptight. I mean, Joseph's gone. They should just let loose for a bit."

Morgan reached over and picked up his Browning Hi-Power, which had been sitting in its holster next to him.

"I think this would probably be a little more effective."

She laughed.

"Probably."

* * *

In the darkness of the bedroom, Morgan looked over at his phone on the nightstand next to him.

It was a little after one in the morning. It had been a long day, but he could not sleep. A few different thoughts were bouncing around his brain. Transitioning from being in a state of total war to being a normal county was wearing on him, as it was wearing on other government employees. Mary and Sheriff Whitehorse had the most on their plate given their stations.

He was also thinking about the cult, as he usually did.

They were gone and defeated but moving forward would be strange time for everyone. He worried about Jess. Her life had revolved around fighting a personal war against the cult. Something told Morgan that she would actually miss their absence in her life.

What worried him was what Jess would do now. She was skilled and smart in her own way, but not classically educated. He would be happy if she just wanted to stay home while he bought home the paycheck from the Sheriff's Department. But, knowing Jess, she would want to do something. What Morgan really worried about was her becoming depressed or despondent at the prospect of losing the things that defined her existence.

Slowly, Morgan got up from bed. Jess was fast asleep, her head buried into her pillow. He put on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, flip-flops, and walked out of their home, closing the door behind him as quietly as he could.

Fall's End was dead silent as he walked out onto Main Street. He was definitely the only person awake right now. He stood at the edge of a streetlight's pale orange glow, which washed over a portion of the street. There was something about standing on a deserted road on a warm summer night that just… got to him. In a good way. It instilled a weird feeling, but a good kind of weird that helped clear his head. Back when he was growing up in Billings, he often liked to walk the suburban streets late at night. The unnatural desolation had a therapeutic effect.

What he did not expect was hearing footsteps behind him.

He turned around and saw Jess, stretching as she walked over to him.

"What the fuck are you doing out here?" she asked sleepily.

He smirked.

"Hey. I couldn't sleep. So…"

"So, you decided to creepily stand around in the middle of a deserted street?"

He laughed as she put her arms around him.

"Yeah, if you want to look at it like that."

"Are you okay?" Jess whispered as she ran a hand through his hair.

"I, uh, I think. I'm just worried."

"About what?"

"Well, there's just been a lot going on lately, as you are probably well aware."

"I'd imagine that would be wearing you out a bit. I'm sorry, babe."

"Don't be sorry! You do the exact opposite of stress me out, actually."

He felt her smile.

"Is that so? I'm glad, because I'm a fuckin' handful."

Morgan exhaled and put a hand through Jess's soft hair.

"I'm worried about you too, you know," he admitted to her.

She lifted up her head and looked at him, confused.

"Me? Why?"

For a moment, Morgan felt that he had said too much. Then again, if you loved someone, you should be able to talk about the things that worry you.

"It's just that… I know you dedicated everything you had fighting the cult and, like…"

"They're gone and I've pretty much lost the thing that gave me purpose, right?" she finished for him.

Morgan nodded.

"Right."

"I've been thinking a lot about that too. And, I'll be real with you, I don't know what to do next. I really can't say."

"You know that whatever happens next, I'll support you all the way, right?"

"I know you will. That's why I love you," she said.

Morgan chuckled.

"We'll figure it out. I know we will."

Jess leaned up and kissed him once.

"You and I- we get shit done. Whatever this world throws at us, we get through it."

"We will, babe. I know we will."

They stood together, tangled up in the deserted street for a few minutes more.

"Come back to bed. I want you there," Jess told him.

She took his hand and led him back to the house.

He smiled as she did so.

"Hey, whatever you say."

Soon enough, they both returned and Morgan shut the door behind him. Once again, it was quiet out in Fall's End.

* * *

_September_

* * *

After the dog days of August, September was welcomed for its cooler temperatures, which everyone knew would only get lower until the Spring came around again. The children and teenagers of Hope County would also be heading back to school for what would certainly be an eventful semester.

Speaking of school, classes resumed at the University of Montana in Missoula, meaning thousands of young adults would supplement the city's population. A few of these students would head out on the weekends or evenings to Hope County, typically to take pictures of the unspoiled wilderness for their social media pages.

On a Friday night, Morgan and Grace were on duty, eating dinner at the Spread Eagle. They both noticed four young men had entered the establishment and promptly took their seats at the bar. Mary, being the devoted host, provided them with multiple rounds of beer and spirits.

They were college kids- one of them was even wearing a University of Montana hoodie, betraying their origins. The men started out like any other patrons and were ignored by Morgan and Grace. However, after a few rounds, one of them, a short, but well-built guy with curly black hair, started to get loud. His compatriots also began to become more vocal after some shots, but he was really the one making a scene. It was also clear to see he was the ringleader.

Morgan looked at Mary several times, giving her a look that offered his willingness to throw them out for her. Mary silently waved him off. She was a sweetheart, but she knew how to deal with rowdy douchebags if the need arose.

As Grace was talking to him, Morgan watched from the corner of his eye as the ringleader reached over and grabbed Mary's butt while her back was turned to him. Three of the guys laughed as she turned around, face screwed in anger. A fourth guy looked on hesitantly and seemed quite ill at ease. Morgan stood up, as did Grace, sensing he had seen something he did not like.

"Hey, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Mary snapped at the guy who groped her.

The guy smiled and looked at his buddies.

"What the fuck? I didn't do anything!" he said with a laugh.

Mary shot daggers at him and his friends.

"Alright, you're done."

He put up his arms in protest.

"Yo, what the fuck?" he whined.

"Get out. You're done." Mary said jerking a finger towards the door.

"I'm not done, though."

"You  _are_  done. Leave," Mary said one last time.

"Fuck you, cunt. Give me my fucking vodka," the guy demanded.

Morgan strode over, not liking his tone one bit. Grace followed, also not liking what she heard.

"Hey!" Morgan called, getting the attention of everyone sitting at the bar.

He pointed to the door.

"It's her bar, her rules. Get out," he warned.

"Come on, Kevin, let's just go," the ringleader's soberer friend addressed him.

"Fine," Kevin grunted as he got up, pushing past Morgan. His friends followed.

Mary smiled at Morgan.

"I could've handled that," she assured him.

"Well, you don't have to. That's why I have this," Morgan replied, pointing at his badge.

Morgan and Grace followed the group to make sure they were not loitering around.

"Man, we're fucking going, what else do you want from us?" Kevin said.

"I want to see you leave," Morgan said.

"It's best if you guys just left for the night," Grace advised.

Kevin scoffed and shook his head.

"Fuckin' coon," he muttered loud enough for Morgan and Grace to hear.

Morgan walked over and roughly grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Apologize to Deputy Armstrong," he ordered the man.

"Morgan…" Grace began, trying to make him let it go.

"I think someone his age should learn some respect for the real world and that throwing around racial slurs doesn't make you a badass," Morgan said.

"Okay," Kevin replied after a moment of brooding.

He reached into the back of his pants and drew a concealed M1911-style pistol.

"How about you show me some fuckin' respect?" he spat.

Morgan was quicker, though. He reached for the collapsible baton tucked into a holster at his waist and extended it with a flick of his wrist. While Kevin was ranting, Morgan slammed the baton into the hand holding the gun, once, twice.

Kevin shouted and lost his grip on the pistol, sending it clattering across the ground. He cursed and launched a punch at Morgan's face, who sidestepped his wide swing and batted him the face with his baton.

One of his stocky friends shouted and went to grab Morgan. Grace was faster, however. She slammed her own baton into the man's stomach, causing him to double over. He was sent to the ground by a strike to the back of his head. The third friend sent a high kick in Morgan's direction, which he easily caught with both hands before elbowing him in the sternum.

The fourth friend, the soberest of the bunch, wisely took a step back.

Kevin got back up and wildly sent punches towards Morgan, who blocked most of them, but a few caught him in the torso. Grace came up behind Kevin and smacked him with her baton several times. However, the man Grace had downed came up behind her and put her in a headlock.

As Morgan recovered from being punched several times, the third friend kicked him in the back of the knee. Pain shot up Morgan's left leg as he hobbled on one leg.

No one noticed a new pair of feet sprinting towards the brawl.

Jess, screaming and cursing, jumped onto the back of the man holding Grace.

"Ah! Get the fuck off me!" the man shouted as Jess bought him to the ground with her arms wrapped around his neck.

Utilizing this distraction, Morgan slammed a knee into Kevin's stomach and whipped his baton across his cheek.

Jess released the man she was holding before he could fade into unconsciousness. She ran over to the third man, who backed away from her, begging for mercy. Jess replied with a kick to the groin and an elbow to the temple.

With their aggressors groaning on the ground, Jess helped up Grace.

"Hey babe," she greeted Morgan while kissing him on the cheek.

"Nice timing."

"Yeah, that's me. I wanted to see you and saw you and Grace throwing down with some assholes. So, I decided to join in."

He laughed.

"Appreciate it. Hey, can you go to the Sheriff's Office and ask the sheriff to help us out here?"

She nodded before jogging off.

Morgan and Grace slapped cuffs around the three men's wrists and collected the gun Kevin had drawn. With that all said and done, they turned to the fourth guy.

"Uh… I didn't do anything!" he pleaded.

"What's your name?" Morgan asked.

"Jack."

"Jack? Is that your car?" Grace asked, referring to the blue Subaru, which was the only other car in the parking lot besides their patrol truck.

"Yeah."

"Well, why don't you get out of here?" Morgan suggested.

"Unless you want to wait around for your… friends here," Grace added.

Jack shook his head.

"I think I'll just go."

They both nodded as Jack hurriedly jumped into his car and drove off back to Missoula.

Grace looked at Morgan and smirked.

"Never a dull day in Hope County."

* * *

_October_

* * *

The night of October 16th was one where Morgan had to break out his outer layer for the first time since the previous winter. Not a change he was looking forward to.

It was another night on patrol and he and Grace were heading back to Fall's End when his cellphone rang.

Picking it up, Morgan saw it was Mary calling.

"Hey, what's up?" he said into his phone.

" _Morgan? Can you come to the bar? Now_?"

She sounded like something urgent was happening. Morgan responded in kind.

"Whoa, is everything okay? Are you okay?" he asked.

" _I'm fine… just come quick. Please_."

"Okay, okay, Mary. Just sit tight," he instructed before hanging up.

Morgan turned on the lights and sirens before flooring the gas.

"What's going on?" Grace inquired as she was pushed back into her seat by the sudden burst of speed.

"That was Mary. Sounded like something was going on."

They reached the Spread Eagle in record time. Morgan saw no one was out in the streets and that the usually well-lit town bar was dark.

Morgan parked and took point, hand on his sidearm. Grace followed up behind him.

"Okay, let's do this," he said as he pushed open the door.

The interior of the bar was completely dark. Morgan reached around for his flashlight. He heard Grace silently step up behind him and fan out.

"Mary, are you here?" he called into the darkness.

The lights suddenly flicked on, causing Morgan to blink.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw over a dozen of his friends and allies standing around a table with a large chocolate cake sitting on it.

"Happy birthday!" multiple voices shouted at him.

Morgan broke out into a large grin and looked up at the ceiling, his tense, ready-for-action stance relaxing.

"Oh, my God," he said, half groaning, half laughing.

Mary walked out from behind the table and gave him a hug.

"You… shit, Mary, don't do that again!" he laughed.

"Did I have you worried?"

"Yes, yes you did!"

Jess emerged from the crowd and gave him a quick kiss.

"That part was my idea, I'll have you know," she informed him.

Grace put a hand on his shoulder.

"We all figured it would be a good way to get you back to town right away."

He smiled.

"That it was."

He looked at all the smiling faces surrounding him.

"Shit…" he mumbled, hating being the center of attention once more.

"Don't tell us we 'didn't have to do this' or whatever. You deserved something," Mary told him.

Jess pulled out a seat and motioned for him to sit, which he reluctantly did.

"I can't tell you the last time I had an actual birthday cake," he admitted.

"Ah, man, you've been missing out! Always get myself one. Sometimes I get myself a cake and it ain't even my fuckin' birthday!" Hurk interjected.

Mary reached over the bar and got a cake slicer and a lighter.

"Now's as best a time as any," she said as she lit the candles spelling out  _29_  on the cake.

He shook his head again, amazed that he truly meant this much to so many people. As he looked around the people all waiting for him to blow out the candles, he could only smile to himself.

Often times, Morgan said he had no family of note left. Now, that was certainly not true. He was surrounded by his family in this moment.

"Goddamn, guys," he managed before blowing out the candles to much applause.

* * *

The bar had broken off into different groups as everyone enjoyed cake, coffee, and conversation. Morgan's birthday cake was really damn good and he would dare to say it was the best he ever had.

"Where'd you get this? It's great!" he asked Mary.

At that moment, Adelaide Drubman breezed over and put her hands on Morgan's shoulders.

"That would be my doing, honey," Hurk's mother proudly stated.

He smiled at the older woman.

"Thanks! It's great."

"My favorite deputy deserves the best," she purred.

She walked away, smiling at something.

Mary and Jess both laughed at Morgan's red cheeks.

"Seems like you got some competition, Jess," Mary teased.

"Oh, please. I think Addie just has a thing for every male in the county," Morgan said.

"There's plenty to go around. She'll have to go through me for you," Jess affirmed.

Someone asked Mary for more milk, leading her to excuse herself from Morgan and Jess.

Hurk strode over, carrying an object poorly wrapped with red wrapping paper.

"Hey, man, I got something for you," he announced as he put the object down in front of Morgan. It hit the table with a heavy  _thud_.

"Oh, come on, Hurk, you didn't have to!" Morgan said.

"Well, I know I didn't have to, brother, but I just figured it would be the right thing to do! Plus, I think it'll be very useful."

Morgan opened up the package and found it was a stone idol resembling a sitting monkey.

He picked up the heavy effigy and turned it over in his hands. It appeared to be thousands of years old.

"Thanks… but what is it?" he asked.

"That, my friend, is an idol in the likeliness of the Monkey God himself. I found it when I was out in Kyrat a few years ago. Figured it would be good for your house and stuff, you know, bring some of the Monkey God's good juju into your life," Hurk explained.

Morgan was completely lost but smiled anyway. It did seem to be ancient and would actually look nice on an end table.

"Thanks, Hurk, I appreciate it. And uh, yeah, I guess I could use the good energy."

Hurk smiled and reached over to hug Morgan, who returned it with some awkward pats on the back.

"Of course, brother, always!" he said before departing.

Jess looked over at the statue.

"It's, uh… actually kinda cool," she admitted.

"Yeah," Morgan nodded thoughtfully.

"I didn't get you anything. Anything material, anyway," Jess said.

"What? Do you think that'll be a problem or something? I don't care if you get me anything, Jess! You should know-"

Morgan paused when he felt Jess grab his hand from under the table and furtively guided it to her inner thigh. He looked down at her hand and back up to see her smiling at him, with that familiar hunger in her eyes.

"I will tell you," Jess said in a low tone, "that you will be getting extra special birthday sex later."

As Morgan smiled at the thought, she speared a piece of cake on her fork and held it up to him. He opened his mouth and Jess fed him the cake.

"It's always special, though," Morgan replied.

"Yeah, well, trust me when I say I'm planning to make a more concentrated effort tonight," she said with a sly smile.

* * *

_November_

* * *

In late November, the first real snow falls of the year began. Hope County residents dug out their winter clothing and began to brace for yet another seemingly endless winter. Summer was fun while it lasted.

On the plus side, Autumn in Hope County was a gorgeous time where the beauty of all the leaves changing color had to be seen to be appreciated.

Jess was sitting with her knees on the couch on the night of November 24th. She looked outside at the swirling snow, which had started out light and quickly picked up pace to become the first major snowfall of the year. She had eaten dinner alone again- Morgan was out on patrol. It was some turkey leftover from Thanksgiving a few days earlier, turkey she had bagged herself, of course.

Morgan and Jess spent Thanksgiving Day at the Ryes'- the first time she had actually had Thanksgiving with other people in a long time. During her war against Eden's Gate, every day, even holidays, was the same routine. If no one informed her, she typically did not even notice the holidays pass her by.

Either way, it felt good to just sit down and have days to celebrate life, family, and friends. All those things had been sorely missed and she did not even realize it until they were part of her life again.

She sipped on hot chocolate and thought about how Morgan was out there completely alone. Grace had sprained her ankle the previous day and Morgan volunteered to just patrol by himself. He was driving a truck, sure, but the roads could be treacherous in icy conditions, not to mention the low visibility.

Jess set down her cup and picked up her iPhone. Morgan recently bought her a smartphone despite her insistence she would be fine without one. Jess had not owned a cellphone in years and the last one she had was a flip phone. It took some getting used to and Morgan often teased her about how she was like an old person struggling with technology that was commonly used by others.

She looked at the wallpaper she had set- a selfie of her and Morgan on a hike together back in August. Jess sighed and opened the phone app and called Morgan.

He did not pick up for the third time. Cursing to herself, Jess left a message.

"Hey, it's me… just… call me, please?"

She rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. Looking outside again, Jess felt worry burning up inside her.

Sensing this, Boomer walked into the room and jumped up on the couch next to her. She smiled weakly at the dog and petted him on the head.

"What's up, boy?"

Boomer licked her face in reply.

"Where's Morgan?"

His ears perked up at the sound of his master's name.

"Where's Morgan?" Jess repeated.

Boomer gave a low bark and jumped down, his tail wagging. Boomer trotted over to the front door and sat down, whimpering.

"I know," Jess sighed, "we'll wait for him, okay?"

* * *

The sound of the door opening and the cold rush of wind it bought caused Jess to jump up from her seat in the recliner. She realized she had fallen asleep.

Looking up, she saw Morgan closing the door, brushing snow off of his black beanie and green Sheriff's Department marked parka.

"Hey, babe," Jess greeted.

Morgan turned around, shoving something behind his back.

"You're awake!" he exclaimed.

She snorted and stood up.

"Of  _course_  I'm fuckin' awake. I was worried as shit! I called you!"

Morgan smiled apologetically.

"My phone died… sorry, my love."

She smiled and giggled at her affectionate nickname.

"Did… you wait up for me this whole time?" he asked her

She nodded. "I couldn't sleep. Not yet."

"What do you have there?" she added.

Morgan grinned.

"I'm late because I had to pick this up."

He revealed a long, thin box wrapped in gift wrap, complete with a red ribbon.

"Happy birthday, Jess," he resounded, holding out the box to her.

"I considered throwing you a surprise party like you did for me, but… I figured that wasn't your thing. At all. So… I just got this."

She giggled in surprise.

"I- wow, thanks…" she said, flustered.

"Open it!" Morgan implored.

She tore away the wrapping and her mouth dropped open.

"Holy shit, Morgan!"

She held a new-in-box Hoyt Carbon RX-1 compound bow, a top of the line hunting bow that she had had her eye on but figured was well out of her means to afford.

"This is fuckin' awesome!" Jess cried as she opened the box and picked up the bow.

"Goddamn, it's like… so light and balanced and… and…"

She could only smile and embrace Morgan.

"Thank you so much. That means a lot."

"You mean a lot," he told her.

Jess could not find the words to express what the man she was embracing meant to her. In truth, his gift was very nice, but what really meant the world to her was just everything he did for her and everything he continued to do.

"You mean everything to me, Morgan," she finally managed to whisper.

Together, the two held each other, safe and warm from the storm outside, which continued to fall with no signs of stopping.

* * *

_December_

* * *

When Morgan got up on Christmas morning, he saw something he did not expect to see.

Jess was wearing a red Santa hat.

"Merry Christmas, babe!" she greeted

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked as he poured some coffee.

"I'm feeling great!"

"You sure? I didn't really peg you for being so… festive."

Jess shrugged and gave Boomer, also wearing a Santa hat, a treat.

"Figured I should stop being a miserable bitch and get into the spirit of Christmas and shit."

Morgan laughed.

"Well, I think you look cute."

She smiled sweetly.

"Appreciate that," she said as she flopped down next to the Christmas tree they had set up in the living room.

"Come on, let's open presents and be merry," she told him.

Morgan sat down and joined her.

She immediately reached under the tree and pushed a long package in his direction.

"What's this?" he asked, feeling its heft.

Jess shrugged.

"Why don't you stop asking me and open it?"

Morgan tore open the wrapping to find a plastic shotgun carrying case. Opening the case, he was stunned to see a pristine SPAS-12 shotgun sitting inside.

"Is… is that…?" he began.

She nodded.

"You bet. One of two thousand imported into the country."

He laughed in disbelief and looked up at her.

"Where'd you find this thing?"

"I know a guy," she said with a light shrug. "Now you can go and hunt Velociraptors."

"I'd rather not, those things freak me out. Thanks a lot," Morgan said as he hugged his girlfriend.

It was his turn. He reached over her behind her and grabbed a cardboard box he simply stuck a ribbon on, not wanting to waste time messing around with wrapping paper that would just go into the trash.

Jess eagerly opened her gift and withdrew a brand-new pair of hunting boots.

"Those are some high-tech boots loaded with all sorts of heat resistant, water resistant, sweat resistant, and whatever else resistant things. Figured it would come in handy," Morgan explained.

"Would work very nicely with my new bow," Jess grinned.

They spent some time opening the rest of their gifts. The Ryes' bought Morgan a new watch, Adelaide got Jess some tops that, to Morgan's surprise, she actually liked, and Hurk bought them a foul-smelling flask of black liquor that an attached note stated was brewed according to "Rakyat tradition."

"Let's set that aside for, uh, later…" Morgan muttered.

They finished opening gifts from their other friends and allies before Jess abruptly stood up.

"Hey, come outside. I want to show you something," she told him.

"What's outside?"

Jess rolled her eyes.

"Maybe you would know if you came outside with me," she said sarcastically.

Morgan got on his coat and followed her outside. His mouth immediately dropped open in surprise when he saw that in their driveway.

There sat a pristine, cherry red 1975 Pontiac Firebird. The beautiful muscle car was one he and Jess had come across in an abandoned garage, left behind by a classic car collector who had hightailed it out of Hope County. Morgan immediately fell in love with the car, but his love affair was quickly cut short after he was forced to abandon it at the side of the road following an ambush by a cult patrol a month later. He had thought that the car was either destroyed or claimed by the Peggies.

"Where did you find it?" he asked Jess with a big smile on his face.

She only gave a sly smile.

"I had time to track it down while you were at work. I had the guys at the garage fix it up and push it over here for me."

For once, Morgan was speechless. He could only shake his head before turning to embrace Jess.

"Thanks so much," he whispered.

"Keys are in the ignition," she said, jerking her head towards the car.

Morgan smiled.

"Wanna go for a spin?"

"Normally… I'd say no, considering that this probably isn't the best thing for snowy roads. But I might have to make an exception this time around," Jess said, seeing Morgan's smile grow even wider.

He immediately opened the driver's side door and got in. Jess came to follow, but he put up a hand before she got in.

"Hey, knock the snow off your shoes before you get in!" he warned.

Jess scoffed.

"I'm regretting this already," she snarked as Morgan laughed and pulled out of their driveway and down snow-covered Main Street.

* * *

_January_

* * *

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Happy New Year!" shouted the dozens of people crammed into the Spread Eagle to ring in 2019.

Immediately after the clock struck midnight, Jess turned to Morgan and wrapped her arms around him before they both participated in their first celebratory New Years' kiss.

"Happy fuckin' New Year," she whispered to him with a grin after they broke apart.

After the applause and cheers died down, Sheriff Whitehorse raised his glass of champagne to the assembled revelers.

"As I'm sure we're all aware, 2018 was a very eventful year, to say the least. Going into 2019, let's all remember those who could not be with us and those who sacrificed everything for our freedom. Let's make 2019 a year to remember and a year to rebuild, ladies and gentlemen."

"Hear, hear!" the bar shouted in agreement as they toasted.

As they all began to drink and celebrate the New Year, Whitehorse's radio buzzed.

" _Happy New Year, sheriff!_ " Jenny said into the radio. " _I hate to ruin the night so early, but we got reports some drunk boys are negligently discharging shotguns and ARs down by the trailer park. Can you go check it out? Over._ "

Whitehorse sighed and smirked.

"You got it, Jenny, and happy New Year to you too. Over."

He looked over at Morgan, who grinned and shrugged.

"I'll go bring the car around, sheriff."

* * *

January meant more snow. Typically, lots of it.

Jess wanted to go and try out her new bow. The seemingly endless cycle of blizzards made it difficult to do so.

Morgan was out, as usual, chasing down drunks and white trash around the county. She missed him when he was not around and eagerly awaited his return every night after his shift. During these snowy months, she would sometimes hike outside with Boomer and attempt to hunt, but quickly learned she needed to brush up on her winter hunting skills.

So, she spent a lot of time laying around, messing with her hunting gear, playing with Boomer, and often thinking of Morgan. A lot of times feeling rather horny while doing so. This often resulted in her immediately assaulting him as soon as he walked in, tearing off his deputy uniform (while Morgan complained he would have to iron it again) and promising to get dinner  _after_  they made love.

Jess sat down on the couch, reflecting on how she had become so…

Domesticated? Was that the right word?

Not because Morgan made her that way or anything. She was still the fiercely independent, take-no-shit survivor that everyone knew her as. But, there was just something reassuring to be able to come home every day to someone who loved her and who she was making a home with.

She did find it funny when she took it upon herself to cook and do chores around the house when he was not home. Not that Morgan did not step up on his days off. They also worked together to cook meals whenever they were together, so it was not like this was some sort of ideal 1950s era family they had going on.

Jess thought it was funny because she could never envision herself doing these things for a guy- and furthermore, because she  _wanted_  to.

Either way, Jess flopped down on the couch and lazily petted Boomer, who curled up against the couch. She reached over and fished around on the coffee table for something to read, eventually settling on a survival magazine.

She looked at the cover and saw that the cover story was an interview with some guy who was touted as an "expert survivalist." Mildly interested, Jess flipped to the interview.

It quickly became apparent to her this guy had no idea what he was talking about half the time. Jess cringed at some of the advice he gave. It was advice amateurs could follow, but nothing that a true expert would recommend.

By the end of the article, she was actually fuming that people were being misled like this. She was so mad, that she picked up a nearby pad of paper and pen and began to jot down her notes on what she would actually do in the situations the interviewee talked about, along with more effective and practical methods of wilderness survival.

At one point, she suddenly stopped writing. Something clicked in her mind.

Jess gathered a few more pieces of paper and relocated to the dining room, where the table was quickly taken over by multiple sheets of notes, diagrams, and maps.

After about an hour, Jess looked at the top of her notes and smiled when she realized she had found what she was looking for.

Purpose.

At the top of her notes, she wrote:

 _Jess Black's Survival School_.

* * *

_February_

* * *

Winter wore on in Hope County and many residents could often be heard grumbling about missing the sun and short sleeves. Morgan was one of them.

On one of his days off, he had wanted to take his Firebird out for a spin, the first time it would have run in weeks. He left it outside of the garage in anticipation of this but was horrified to awake the next morning and find his car had been covered in a thick layer of fresh snow.

"I'm never trusting the weather ever again," Morgan mumbled for the tenth time that month as he very, very gently cleaned the snow off the car.

His work done, Morgan put the car back into the garage, sighing heavily at the prospect of not taking his baby out for a spin any time soon. He ducked back inside and found Jess sitting in the recliner, helping herself to some leftover chocolate from Valentine's Day and making some notes in her notebook.

"Hey," she greeted, "is the car okay?"

"No," he grumbled.

"Aw, did it get moisture on it?" she asked in a tone of faux concern.

Morgan nodded anxiously.

"Yes! Now it'll rust!"

Jess smiled.

"Then we'll have a nice project to bond over come Summer."

Morgan smirked and sat down on the couch.

"If it ever comes."

He picked up a piece of paper and leaned it on a magazine before beginning to draw.

"How's your survival school plans coming along?" he asked Jess.

She shrugged.

"I'm still figuring out the courses I can actually teach well that won't end up with my students getting fucked up too much. I'll have to wait until at least summer, anyway."

"I hear you," Morgan said with a nod.

For the next twenty minutes, the couple set about in their respective tasks in silence.

"What are you drawing?" Jess asked when she looked up at him.

Morgan got up and showed her a rough sketch of a sizable house, one that combined the rustic flair of a wooden cabin with sleek, modern design.

"That, babe, is my dream house," he explained.

"Wow, it's nice. I didn't know you could draw," Jess said, sounding surprised.

"I took a few classes in college. They were electives," Morgan said.

"Don't expect any masterpieces out of me, though," he added a few seconds later.

Jess examined his concept and nodded approvingly.

"It's… big, but not too big."

"That's what I was going for. I don't need a mansion. But maybe, one day, we can move out and get something a little bigger than this."

She smiled.

"I think I'd like that. So, what, are you planning to get this built?"

"I'll have to."

"And how much would that cost?"

Morgan laughed.

"A lot more than what I make now."

"It's good to have aspirations, though. That's what my granny always told me."

"Well, it'll have to be nothing but aspirations right now."

Jess leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"For now."

* * *

_March_

* * *

Jess was walking through the woods.

It was a usual activity for her, but this time, it seemed strange.

The woods were not anywhere she particularly recognized. It was also unnaturally quiet. Jess knew that woods were never silent. There was always the sound of an animal in the distance, or a bird, or even bugs buzzing around. But right now, all she heard were her feet crunching through dead leaves.

Jess could not even recall why she was out here. She was just… walking.

She could not even tell what time it was. It was either an unusually bright night or a very overcast day. Either way, the thick canopy above her obscured much of whatever light would come through.

Without even noticing it, Jess suddenly found herself in a clearing.

A man was standing there with his back to her. She could hear low conversation and three distinct voices but could not make out any words.

As she approached the clearing, her foot snapped a twig. The man twisted around and hauled two people, both on their knees, towards her.

The man was Jacob Seed. The two people were Russell and Juliet Black- her parents.

"You," Jacob grunted, pointing his knife at her.

She had no weapons, but Jess narrowed her eyes and launched herself forward, fists closed and ready to beat the shit out of Jacob.

Before she could reach him, she suddenly fell onto her knees and could not go on, as if her legs suddenly turned to jelly.

Jacob clicked his tongue and shook his head while both her parents sobbed and pleaded for her to help them.

"Weak. That's all you are. Weak. Useless. A burden to everyone around you," Jacob chastised. His voice sounded distant and hollow, despite the fact he was right in front of her.

"Fuck you, you motherfucker! I'm gonna fucking gut you!" she spat at him.

Jacob just smiled and turned around. The Cook emerged from the inky dark outside of the clearing. He carried a red jerry can in one hand and a lighter in the other.

"There is no place for people like you, Jess," Jacob said calmly.

Jess stared at the Cook. She shook her head in disbelief.

"I put an arrow through your fuckin' skull."

The madman just smiled and began to whistle as Jacob moved back to allow him to pour gasoline all over her parents. He soon turned and poured the remaining gas on himself. The Cook took a seat next to Jess's parents.

"Help us, please," Russell Black choked.

"Jess, sweetie…" Juliet Black cried.

The Cook continued to whistle as he bought the lighter to himself, setting all three people on fire.

He seemed to laugh as the flames consumed him, while Jess listened to her parents scream in agony.

She wanted to jump up and help them, but she felt like something was holding her down. She felt absolutely impotent in that moment.

Jacob walked over calmly, knife held loosely in one hand.

"This isn't fucking right," Jess growled, "I killed the fucking Cook myself. Morgan put a bullet in you. You're dead. You're supposed to be in the fucking ground!"

Jacob nodded slowly while smirking. He reached over and grabbed her by the throat, hauling her to her feet.

"You mean that Morgan?" he asked.

He forced Jess to turn and saw Morgan was before her, wrists bound in front of him while he was surrounded by John, Joseph, and Faith Seed.

"Jess," Morgan spoke, also sounding distant.

Faith hummed lightly as she skipped forward to the front of Morgan. She reached up and began to kiss him. Morgan tried to squirm away, but Faith forced him to remain still.

"Fucking bitch, I'm gonna fuck you up- I'll fuck all you assholes up!" Jess raged, still being held firm by Jacob.

"No, you won't," Faith said, done kissing Morgan.

"You know why?" she asked.

"Fuck you," Jess replied.

"Because Morgan actually enjoyed that. He really doesn't care about you. At all. I'm sorry, Jess. He told John that already during confession."

"That's not true at all!" Morgan cried.

Jacob smiled and walked over to Morgan, dropping Jess back to her knees in the process.

"Lying is a sin, deputy," Jacob told him before shoving his knife into Morgan's throat.

Jess screamed incoherent threats from her position, but once again felt completely unable to do anything to help.

The Seed siblings hauled Morgan over to Jess and tossed his body in front of her. Morgan gurgled as blood boiled past the hands clamped around his throat. He was looking at her, eyes wide open, trying to say something.

"No… no…" was all Jess could say.

Jacob sighed and shook his head disapprovingly.

"Pathetic," he scolded.

Jess looked up at Jacob just in time to see the knife coming towards her eye.

* * *

With a shout, Jess jumped up in bed, thrashing about and shouting several things at once. Next to her, Morgan immediately awoke and grabbed onto her tight. She started to push away from him, shouting something about Jacob and Faith and her parents.

"Jess!" Morgan exclaimed.

"No, no, no!" she said rapidly.

"Jess! Jess! It was a dream! You were dreaming!" he frantically told her.

Jess stopped her movements and took several deep breaths. She looked over to him, Morgan saw tears forming in her eyes.

"I… you were… and then my parents they were…" she mumbled.

Morgan pulled her close to him and began to gently stroke her hair.

"Shush. Don't talk," he instructed.

"I got you. It's okay. None of that was real," Morgan continued.

Jess wiped away her tears.

"Okay, okay… shit…"

Morgan kissed her on the top of her head.

"I always got ya. Always."

* * *

_April_

* * *

Morgan would be patrolling solo for the rest of the week since Grace took off to visit family in Oregon. He looked forward to the prospect of cruising through Hope County, listening to the radio and just enjoying the sights.

By April, it typically stopped snowing, although it was certainly not Summer time by any means. But, at the very least, the goddamn snow was finally gone.

He was in the Whitetail Mountains and decided to drop by the Drubman Marina on the northern bank of Silver Lake. He figured Addie Drubman would appreciate him saying "hi."

Morgan pulled into the Marina and parked right in front of the office where Adelaide could typically be found. He walked in to find her in the middle of her afternoon yoga session.

"Oh, am I interrupting?" he asked.

Adelaide jumped up when she heard his voice and smiled.

"Morgan, honey!" she cried as she jogged over to embrace him. "No, not at all! How you doing, dep?"

"I'm good, thanks," he responded as he returned her hug. "How's business?"

"It's fuckin' great! Xander's been hard at work with marketing and it's paid off. Lots of kids from California are coming out, trying to experience 'country living' and guns with thirty round magazines."

Morgan chuckled.

"And they've learned that they've been missing out, I imagine?"

"Oh, hell yeah! Most of them will probably end up staying in Montana when I'm done with them. Say- how's Jess?"

"She's good. We're doing great. We'll be officially together for a year next month."

Adelaide made an excited noise and clapped her hands together.

"Shit, has it been a year already? That's great to hear! You guys are so good together. Shit, I'm telling you, every time I see you guys together being all cute and shit, my heart just melts. It reminds me of when I met Hurk's dad."

She rolled her eyes.

"Hopefully you ain't as big of a prick as he is," she added a moment later.

Morgan chuckled.

"Oh, well, I try not to be. At least I hope I'm not."

She laughed back.

"Don't worry about it. I know my men very well and you're one of the good ones."

"Appreciate that approval."

"So, tell me," she began, leaning in, "how's the sex?"

Morgan smirked, figuring she would eventually want to know about that.

"I'm not sure I want to go into detail…"

"Oh, come on, sweetheart, you can tell me!"

"I know I can tell you, I'm not sure I  _want_  to!"

Adelaide groaned.

"Jesus, Morgan. We're friends! It's not like I'm going to go around gossiping or anything."

Morgan looked at her, unsure what to say to that.

"Okay, fine, let me just ask- I get the impression she's into  _really_  rough stuff. Is she?" Adelaide asked.

"I…"

"Does she like getting tied up? Does she tie you up?"

"Uh…"

"Choking? Slapping? Biting? Scratching? Dirty talk? Oh, she's  _definitely_  into dirty talk. The mouth on that girl…"

Morgan put up a hand to slow her down.

"Fine, Addie, fine. Let me just say, yes, it's really good."

She smiled in delight.

"You also did not confirm or deny her being into rough stuff. I knew it."

Morgan groaned.

"I think I need to get going…"

"Whatever, Morgan, I'll just use my imagination!" she called as he exited.

* * *

_May_

* * *

On his day off, Morgan was by himself. Jess celebrated the warm weather by going out and hunting some dinner for later, as well as to bag a few pelts to make a few bucks. Morgan took Boomer out on a walk around town, appreciating how everything had gone back to normal a year after the cult's defeat. The National Guard had pulled out in early April, with the threat posed by remaining cultists declared to be zero. Fall's End, bolstered by some sweet government loans and grants, had come back better than ever.

The recently refurbished Fall's End Catholic Church had returned to its function as a place for the faithful to gather. Pastor Jerome Jeffries had hung up his shotgun and Kevlar vest and preached to those who came to listen.

"Good afternoon, Deputy Rook!" the pastor called to Morgan as he and Boomer walked past the church. Jeffries was watering some planters near the front of the church and waved to him as he balanced the watering can in his other hand.

Morgan laughed.

"I recall saying that just 'Morgan' is more than fine, Father."

Jeffries smiled.

"And I recall me saying that just 'Jerome' is good, too."

"Touché."

Morgan and Boomer walked up to the church, where Morgan shook hands with Jeffries.

"How is everything, brother?" the pastor asked.

Morgan nodded.

"It's all good. It's been a long year since the end of the war. I'm just glad to see everything rebuilt, people coming back, and the shops reopening."

"I hear you. I will say that my congregation has grown quite a bit since all this happened."

Morgan chuckled.

"I'd imagine plenty of brushes with death will do that to some people."

"You should come some time. It's a fun time, promise."

"I appreciate the offer. I'm a believer, but I can't say I've really been one for organized religion. No offense, of course."

Jeffries waved him off.

"It's no problem, Morgan. We all love God in different ways and most of them are perfectly fine."

"I imagine the ways to express your love of God that are not okay are torturing, murdering, and imprisoning nonbelievers, right?"

"Correct," Jeffries confirmed with a chuckle.

"Can I ask you something?" Morgan said.

"Of course."

"Do you do weddings?"

Jeffries smiled broadly and nodded.

"I haven't officiated in a while. But, I'm sure I could manage. Is this about…?"

"It is."

"Did you propose?" Jeffries asked, sounding proud.

Morgan shook his head.

"No. Uh, not yet."

"Not yet? So, this will be something in our near future?"

"Well…"

Morgan paused, unsure of what to say.

"You need time to think?" Jeffries asked.

"Something like that."

"Then think about it. But, I firmly believe that God brought you two together for a reason. Maybe you and Jess were meant to be. Or something along those lines. After all, you guys met and bonded over fighting a war together. Not the usual sort of relationship at all."

"Not your typical relationship. I'll say that," Morgan agreed.

"All I can offer is- if you love her, and you really think you do, don't let her go. Don't make that mistake. Before I deployed back in the 90s, there was a girl. I loved her. I really did. But, things happened, life moved fast, and I had to let her go. Sometimes I think about what could have been. Don't live a life with 'could haves,' Morgan."

They chatted for a few more minutes before Morgan said his goodbyes and continued his walk with Boomer. As they both walked out of Fall's End, enjoying the sunny day, Morgan reflected on the pastor's words.

The last thing he wanted was to let Jess go. He loved her. And there was no one like her in the world. Everyone that would theoretically come after her; he would be comparing them to her.

He sat down on a tree stump on the side of the road, petting Boomer. Morgan nodded to himself, finally making a decision.

 _No could haves_.


	10. The Last Obstacle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, hope you enjoy this new chapter! Let me know what you think. 
> 
> I just want to thank Jester-of-the-Plague and TheRazgriz007 on FFN for their help with this chapter. I ran into a brief creative block, but it's resolved now!

By the time a new Summer came to Hope County, Morgan and Jess had settled into a comfortable routine. On the days Morgan worked, Jess would pass the time hunting, skinning kills, hiking with Boomer, cooking, or mundane household tasks if they were needed. More recently, she had been trying to acquire ad space for her first survival classes in various magazines and websites. She had also been searching for someone to build her a website. It may have been a little optimistic, but Jess was hoping to hold her first class up in the Whitetail Mountains sometime in mid-August.

On Morgan's on days, eating together would be a hit or miss thing. Sometimes he was too busy and could not come home. Other times the sheriff would tell him to take an extra-long meal break. The nature of law enforcement work meant this would be how it was.

When Morgan was off, the couple hunted together, fished, hiked, camped out on occasion, or went shopping. Some days, both of them were more than content to just lay in bed and enjoy each other's company. And of course, they had sex almost every night. It was something both Morgan and Jess would think about during the day and greatly look forward to later in the day. It never, ever felt routine. One of the few times they went without any sex for a few days was when Morgan got the flu back in February. Both Morgan and Jess agreed it was not very sexy when he kept coughing and sniffling during foreplay.

Another thing Jess had been occupying herself with was actually hanging out with people. Willingly, she might add. In a complete inverse of everything that made Jess Black the woman she was known to be, Jess would sometimes head down to the Spread Eagle to see Mary, across the street to have a beer and shoot the shit with Grace if she was off, or slightly out of town to hang out with Kim.

But, she was still hardly a social butterfly. Her list of people she actually liked had grown, but not by much.

On one such day in late-May, when Morgan and Grace were out doing their thing, Jess was sharpening her skinning knife when her phone buzzed. It was a text from Kim.

" _Hey, you busy?_ " it read.

Jess picked up her phone and took several tries to tap out a reply.

" _No, not really. Do you need something?_ "

" _I just made some baked chicken. Want lunch?_ "

Jess was suddenly acutely aware of her empty stomach.

" _Sounds good. I'll be there soon_ ," she tapped out in reply before getting up and lacing up her boots.

* * *

"Come on in!" Kim called from her dining room when Jess knocked on the door.

Jess pushed open the door and took a deep breath of freshly cooked and seasoned chicken.

"Goddamn, that smells good!" Jess complimented.

"I try, Jess," Kim said with a smile.

"Come on, let's sit outside," she added, picking up the basket with baby Nicole inside.

"How's the kid?" Jess asked.

"I mean… Nicole," Jess hastily added a moment later.

Kim laughed.

"The kid is good. She's starting to walk a bit!" she said eagerly.

"That certainly sounds exciting. Despite the fact I ain't got any kids, I can understand why that would be a big thing to momma Rye."

Kim giggled.

"You get it. Nick's just itching to teach her how to fly. If I'd let him, he'd probably be trying to strap Nikki into the cockpit right this minute."

"Gotta start 'em young. You know, just like riding a bike."

"Something tells me riding a bike is a little different than flying a fifteen-hundred-pound seaplane," Kim laughed as the two women settled at a patio table.

"Whatever you say," Jess said with a grin as Kim served her some chicken.

"Where is Nick anyway?" she asked Kim as they began to eat.

"He's out crop dusting. Still gotta pay the bills."

"I hear ya."

"So, Morgan was telling me about your survival school you got planned. How's that going?"

She shrugged.

"It's not exactly off the ground yet. I think I'll start teaching a basic wilderness survival course up in the Whitetails in August. I need to buy some ads… get a website… then hopefully I can start helping Morgan pay the bills."

"And hopefully this will be so successful, you'll become the next Bear Grylls. Just imagine getting your own product line and TV show! You could have every prepper in the county with Jess Black machetes."

Jess smirked in reply.

"I'm not sure I actually want to be famous. I'm pretty happy with everyone not knowing who the fuck I am and what the fuck I've been up to."

"I can understand that."

"You just know me so damn well, Kim," Jess chuckled.

"I like to think so."

Baby Nicole cooed from her place. Her mother smiled and reached down to gently lift Nicole out of her basket.

"What's wrong, Nikki?"

Nicole twisted around and looked at Jess. The baby's big brown eyes stared intently at her and she raised her fat little arm towards Jess.

"You wanna go to Aunt Jess?" she asked her daughter.

Jess laughed.

"Oh, I'm an aunt now?"

"Seems it. I mean, I don't have anyone else who can fill that role."

Kim held out Nicole, who giggled as she did so.

"Wanna hold her?" Kim asked Jess.

"Uh, sure…" Jess said hesitantly.

Jess gently grasped Nicole around the waist. She held the infant at arm's length and stared at her while Nicole giggled and cooed.

"She's, uh, big," Jess awkwardly observed.

"She certainly is."

Nicole stared at Jess expectantly.

"Want me to take her back?" Kim offered.

"Yeah…"

After Jess gladly returned the child, Kim smiled at her.

"I take it you're not really used to being around kids."

"Oh, you can say that," Jess replied.

"I know it may be a little too early to ask, but are you and Morgan going to try for kids?"

Jess sighed. She knew that question would be coming soon enough. It was the sort of thing people their age asked each other when one got into a stable relationship.

"I… I don't know. Maybe not."

Kim nodded in understanding.

"That's perfectly fine. It's a big decision."

"Hell yeah, it's a pretty fuckin' huge decision."

"It's your choice. Some people just don't want kids and that's fine. I know I wanted kids and me and Nick were in agreement. Are you and Morgan on the same page with this?"

Jess nodded.

"I think we are. I do plan on talking to him a little more about it, though."

"You should. I think it's an important thing a couple should get on the level with before they get married or anything like that."

"I think I'd be an awful mother anyway," Jess said plainly.

Kim shook her head.

"Actually, I think you'd be a really great mom."

Jess scoffed, to which Kim held up a finger.

"Wait! Just listen," Kim said, "you're tough as hell and super protective of those you love. Don't even try to deny that. You got a good sense of right and wrong and would raise your kid right."

Jess shrugged in response.

"Maybe. I guess. But come on, can you just imagine me like, hanging out on the playground with other moms? Or going to pick up the kid from school? Like… in a fuckin' minivan?"

Kim laughed at the mental picture Jess conjured.

"You'd certainly stand out from the other moms."

"Oh, yeah, probably," Jess sarcastically remarked.

"But, like I said, Jess, it's all up to you. If you want kids, then have them. If you don't, that's perfectly fine too."

"I'll leave it up to all the better moms out there, I guess."

"If you don't mind me asking, why don't you exactly?" Kim asked her.

Jess had to think about that for a moment. She had her reasons, but in all honesty, could not accurately describe them. She decided to just boil it down to a shrug.

"I really just think it's just not something I'd be into. I've never particularly liked kids or anything- no offense, I love Nicole- but I just don't think I'd be cool with the thought of having to raise one. You know?"

Kim gave a small smile.

"I understand."

"You don't think I'm fucking crazy or anything, right?"

Kim laughed.

"Jess, we already  _know_  you're fuckin' crazy," she joked.

Jess smirked.

"Glad you do."

Kim gently put her hand on top of her friend's own.

"But your choice is your choice and I respect that. I'm your friend. I'd support just about anything you do."

Jess smiled back, feeling reassured by Kim's words.

"But talk to Morgan. Make sure you guys know what's what. Okay?" Kim said seriously.

Jess nodded.

"Okay."

Kim relaxed after that. Jess felt more relaxed too- it was a good talk.

"So, you guys getting married any time soon?" Kim asked her. Jess had started to hear that question more and more often.

She smiled softly and shrugged.

"We'll see."

It was her go-to answer these days.

* * *

"You see it?"

"It's hard to miss."

Morgan stowed his binoculars when Grace pointed at the yellow crop duster haphazardly parked in an open field.

"Well, let's get him," Morgan said as he put the truck into gear.

They navigated the patrol truck through an open set of steel gates and into the open field where Nick Rye had performed an emergency landing. About fifteen minutes earlier, Nick was performing a routine crop dusting job for a local farmer when the plane he was flying suddenly began to stop feeding fuel into the engine. Nick barely managed to avoid a fiery crash landing, owing to his skills as a pilot. It was not something an amateur could have survived- let alone manage to land the plane mostly intact. After landing, Nick called Morgan and asked if he could get a ride. Luckily for the pilot, Morgan and Grace were patrolling the area.

They found Nick sitting on one of the crop duster's wings, still wearing his aviators and looking supremely pissed.

"This fuckin' guy. I swear," Nick growled, "I should have just used Carmina. But nooooooooo, this guy wanted me to use his piece of shit plane instead! 'Oh, it'll be good to get that thing up and the air and running for a bit!' That's what he told me. Well, dumbass, maybe your plane hasn't run in ages for a  _reason_!"

Morgan smiled, listening to Nick rant.

"Nice to see you're okay, buddy," Morgan sarcastically remarked.

Nick laughed.

"Shit, thanks for getting me, dep."

"Hey, this was my idea," Grace interjected, "we were going to eat lunch when you called. I distinctly remember Morgan saying 'he can just walk.'"

Morgan shot her a dirty look.

"That's not true!"

Grace chuckled.

"Whatever. Let's get out of here."

They piled into the Sheriff's Department marked Dodge Ram and sped off back to the main road.

"Where to?" Morgan asked Nick.

"Get me to Harris Owens' farm. I'm probably going to yell at him for placing me in his deathtrap."

"Sounds like a plan."

"What about the plane?" Grace asked.

Nick waved once.

"Owens can get his fuckin' shitbox plane out of that field. Not my problem."

Morgan and Grace chuckled at his rage.

Nick's phone buzzed and he checked who was contacting him.

He laughed and showed whatever was on his phone to Grace, who also laughed.

"What am I missing?" Morgan asked.

Nick held over his phone and Morgan took it. There was a selfie taken by Kim, who was smiling at the camera and also had it pointed at Jess, who she had caught stuffing her face full of chicken. Jess was looking up at the camera, obviously not expecting to have her picture taken in that moment.

The caption read:  _Look who I rescued. Can we keep her?_

"Well, at least they're entertaining each other," Morgan commented as he handed the phone back to Nick and turned his attention back to the road.

The interior of the car was silent for several minutes before Morgan decided to suddenly speak up.

"I think I've made up my mind. I'm gonna ask Jess to marry me."

Nick and Grace both immediately turned their attention to him and began peppering Morgan with numerous questions.

"When?" Grace excitedly asked.

"Am I invited? Do you have a best man? I'll do it!" Nick said.

"I don't know yet and I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself, Nick. But if she does say yes, then of course you'll be invited. Everyone will be invited," Morgan answered.

"Correction.  _When_  she says yes," Grace said.

Morgan laughed.

"I remain cautiously optimistic."

"Come on, Morgan. That girl fuckin' loves you," Grace replied.

"You seem sure about that."

"Okay,  _maybe_  I'm not supposed to be saying this, but when we hang out… she talks about you. A lot."

"Almost like you talk about her a lot," Nick added.

Morgan smirked.

"Look at you two. Absolutely love sick," Grace said with a chuckle.

Morgan shrugged.

"We can't help it. We're  _in love_ ," he said airily, causing both of his friends to laugh.

"We can see that," Grace replied.

"Do you have a plan for proposing? Hey- you want me to skywrite or something? I can do that!" Nick spoke up.

Morgan shook his head.

"I don't plan on theatrics. I have an idea. But… we'll see."

"Do you have a ring?" Grace asked.

"Not yet."

"Kinda important," Nick said.

"Obviously," Morgan muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, real talk, Morgan," Grace started, "I know you two love each other. That much is painfully obvious to us. Now, I don't want you to think I'm doubting your feeling or whatever, but are you  _sure_ you want to go through with this?"

"I agree, brother. We're all rooting for you. We don't wanna see you guys divorce or something," Nick added.

"I'm sure. Really, really, really sure. I had time to think about it. Plenty of time. And I don't want to just let her go and let this fade and just think later on in life what could have been. You know?"

"I know," Nick said.

"Grace? You have input?" Nick asked her.

She shrugged.

"Hey, you're the only one experiencing marital bliss in this truck. I'll let you take this one."

Nick smirked.

"Right. Anyway, I knew from the start I loved Kim. That wasn't a doubt. Now, I don't think I need to inform you that marriage is a  _massive_  commitment. I mean- you're picking someone you'll hopefully be spending the rest of your life with!"

"I realize."

"You do, which is good. Many people these days don't. Which is why so many marriages crumble. And I think you're on the right track. Before I asked Kim to marry me, I consulted everyone I could. I asked them if I was making the right choice or making a massive fucking mistake. Luckily, everyone thought I was not making the biggest mistake of my life."

"And you know- it goes without saying this ain't no typical love story you and Jess got going on. You didn't meet at a bar. You didn't meet on Tinder. You met fighting a fuckin' doomsday cult," Grace offered.

"That's true!" Nick exclaimed, "you guys got a bond that no one but you two could understand."

Grace nodded.

"He's right. And you know, at the end of the day, we can talk about this all we want, but it's up to you, Morgan. You know how you feel. You know what you want. And you'll know when the right moment is," she advised.

"I suppose you guys are right."

"Of course we're fucking right!" Nick laughed.

"Whoa! Stop here!" he suddenly instructed Morgan.

He opened the door to the truck and hopped out before the truck even came to a stop. Morgan and Grace watched him sprint up a gravel driveway to a farmhouse.

"Owens! Are you trying to get me killed?!" they heard Nick scream.

* * *

Morgan got home around seven that night, although there was still plenty of daylight out. The one thing he enjoyed was his "commute" took all of two minutes to accomplish. He had to try to be late to work.

However, a part of him wished he still had the longer commute to the County Jail. He would have enjoyed tearing down the county lanes in his Firebird. But, it also meant getting home to Jess quicker.

The door was open, as usual. No one ever locked their doors in Fall's End anyway. However, any would-be criminal that was stupid enough to break into Morgan and Jess's home when she was home would quickly come to regret their decision.

"Honey, I'm home!" he called as he walked in with a sarcastic air.

"In here!"

"Where?"

"The bedroom, dumbass! There ain't that many rooms in this place."

Morgan chuckled to himself as he threw his keys and wallet onto the table near the door. He got a beer from the fridge and opened it, taking a sip before setting it down and walking into his bedroom.

"You hear what happened to Nick? He was out on a job and-"

Morgan paused his talking when he walked into his room and looked at the bed. Jess was laying on her stomach, completely naked, and idly flipping through a magazine.

"Yeah, I heard," she said casually, not even looking up from her reading.

"Good thing you were there to save the day. As usual," Jess added.

Morgan did not reply. He was simply caught up in staring at her.

She looked up, looking almost annoyed at his inactivity.

"Well? I'm waiting."

Morgan laughed and began to unbutton his shirt.

Jess leaned her head on her open palms, sitting up on her elbows as she watched him strip. She gave a satisfied smile.

"Go ahead. Take your time. Fold your uniform so you don't bitch about it in the morning."

* * *

Morgan's alarm went off at the normal time, waking Jess in the process. As he mumbled a good morning and moved to roll out of bed, Jess clamped an arm around his waist.

"Stay," she mumbled groggily.

"I want to," he said sympathetically.

"So, do it. Tell the sheriff you're sick or something."

"I want to," Morgan repeated, "but I have a job to do. Come on- lemme go!"

"No!" Jess laughed.

"Please? You really want to leave the safety of this county and its residents up to Hurk?"

Jess chuckled as Morgan struggled against her. She finally let go of him.

"Okay, maybe because I actually like it here and don't want it to all burn down."

"I knew you'd see reason," Morgan said as he stood up, stretching.

She kicked off the sheets and picked out clothes for the day.

"What do you want for lunch?" she asked.

"I think me and Grace will just stop by a diner or something."

"Yeah, no," she said bluntly. "You're getting some roast beef sandwiches."

After his gear was packed, foil wrapped sandwiches placed in his bag, and pistol holstered, Morgan headed out the door for his very arduous commute.

Jess ambushed him before he left.

"I'm gonna tell you what I always tell you," she said as she kissed his neck from behind.

"Yeah?"

"If you die, I'll be so fucking pissed."

"Then I'll try not to. Just for you," Morgan replied with a smile.

They turned to face each other. He ran both his hands down her scarred cheeks and played with a few errant strands of hair as he worked his way down.

"You better try really hard. Otherwise, I'll summon your ghost every night just so I can yell at you."

He smiled and leaned over to give her one last kiss. Morgan intended for it to be a quick one, but it was lasting longer than he anticipated. Not that he could complain.

Jess gently pushed him away, having had her fill.

"Go save lives," she told him.

"I will. I love you."

She smiled.

"I love you too, Morgan."

* * *

" _Morgan, Grace, we got reports of trespassers at Rothco Chemical Supply. Can you two check it out?_ "

That was the call Jenny sent them out on. Immediately, the two deputies started guessing what anyone could want with a bunch of hard to pronounce chemicals. Morgan, the more learned law enforcer, immediately had an answer.

Meth.

Back when he was in the criminal justice program in college, Morgan learned much about the worrying proliferation of methamphetamine across the state. Everyone wanted to get in on the meth trade- from redneck dealers cooking in abandoned cabins in the middle of the woods to ruthless Mexican drug cartels smuggling in their product from neighboring states. Much like the situation in the southern United States, there was an issue with dealers smuggling in product across the vast, poorly defended U.S.-Canada border.

After his older sister's body was taken out of a run-down meth house outside of Billings, Morgan decided he would do his part to make sure that shit never tore apart another family again. And he fully intended to keep that promise today.

In the passenger's seat, Grace slammed home a twenty-round magazine into her AR-10. Both deputies knew that those involved in the meth trade were not local weed dealers. They were ruthless, dangerous criminals who would not hesitate to put a bullet in a cop. If it came to it, neither Morgan or Grace intended to be the ones in a body bag.

Morgan hung right past the open chain link gates of Rothco Chemical Supply, a large distributor of chemicals for industrial and scientific uses located in the Henbane River area. Standing outside was George Rothco, owner, who had an AR-15 slung over his shoulder. His thumb was hooked into the sling, which he nervously played with.

"Mr. Rothco- what seems to be the problem?" Morgan greeted as he got out of the truck.

"I saw four guys on the security cameras cutting through the fuckin' fence. They made a run for one of the storage sheds- like they knew exactly what they were looking for," he explained.

"And which one were they heading towards?" Grace asked.

George rolled his head towards the white, securely locked shed behind him.

"That one. I grabbed my rifle and ran out to get them, but they ran away. And that was about… ten minutes ago."

"And what's in that shed?" Morgan quizzed.

"Methylamine."

Morgan and Grace looked at each other knowingly.

"I figured," Morgan muttered.

George nodded, not needing to be reminded that methylamine was a key ingredient in the synthesis of crystal meth.

"Did you get a good look at them?" Grace asked, withdrawing her notepad.

"Yeah. Four guys. All white… uh, I know one of them was wearing a red hoodie. He really stuck out."

"Did you see them drive away?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "they drove away in some beater hatchback. It was white and there was a large rust spot over the driver's side rear wheel well."

"That's quite a good recall," Grace commented as she finished her notes.

George smiled and tapped his temple.

"You gotta be good with details when working with chemicals."

"We'll send someone to secure your property. Me and Deputy Armstrong will head out and see if these guys are still in the area. They couldn't have gone far," Morgan said.

George nodded.

"Thanks, officers."

They both headed back and mounted up in the truck.

"Man, I must say, I am kind of enjoying being known as 'Deputy Armstrong.' Sounds really official," she commented.

Morgan chuckled.

"That's us. Officially laying down the law. Or something."

"So, you think we'll actually find these assholes?" Grace asked.

He shrugged.

"Wouldn't hurt to try."

He turned the truck onto Kaufman Road, a long, deserted stretch of asphalt flanked by trees on both sides. In other words, a typical Hope County road.

They drove down the road for several minutes, each keeping an eye out for the suspects. After some more searching, Morgan was beginning to suspect that maybe they were indeed too late. However, Grace tapped him on the arm and pointed to a car pulled to the side of the road. It was a white hatchback, complete with an unsightly patch of rust over one of the rear wheel wells. Morgan exhaled when he saw the car.

There was a stream of white smoke coming from the hood. He almost laughed at the idea that these hardcore drug dealers were about to be caught because someone didn't get their car inspected.

Morgan flicked on the lights of the truck and pulled over behind the smoking car. He suddenly became acutely aware he was not wearing a vest. It was hot out and without any Peggies to be taking shots at him, he had not felt the need to be wearing one. Hope County was a pretty low crime area, believe it or not.

"You good?" Grace asked.

"Yeah," he lied.

"Let's just do this quick and easy," he added a moment later as he opened the door to the truck and stepped out. Grace followed right after him.

Hand on his sidearm, Morgan walked to the driver's seat. The window was rolled down and Morgan could see four guys sitting inside the car, none of whom he recognized. They were probably from out of county. The driver was a young man wearing a stained red hoodie.

"Good afternoon," Morgan greeted politely.

The driver nodded and grinned back.

"Hi, officer, what can I do for you?" he said civilly.

In any other situation, Morgan would have appreciated the man's demeanor. But, he knew that he certainly did not actually feel that way.

"What seems to be the problem?" Morgan asked, motioning to the hood of the car. Out of the corner of his eye, Morgan could see Grace hanging back, surveying the whole scene, ready to act if need be.

"Ah, my piece of crap car died on me. Overheated, I think. Me and my boys were coming back from fishing. You know what they say about Hope County fishing, right?"

Morgan smiled, going along with his faux politeness.

"Yeah. I love it out here. Where did you guys fish?"

"Uh…" the driver began.

"Dead Man's Creek," the passenger, a guy with a grey sleeveless shirt on said.

"Yeah. Up there," the driver nodded.

Morgan's eyes flicked to the seat right behind the driver. There scowled another young man in a black hooded sweatshirt. His skin was taut, pale, and dirty. Morgan saw the sleeves of his sweatshirt were rolled up to reveal several red sores along his arms.

The guy looked at Morgan, frowning, before looking away.

Next to him sat the final passenger, yet another guy the same age as his companions wearing a dark blue t-shirt. He stared at the passenger's seat in front of him. Morgan could see his right leg nervously bouncing up and down as if he was trying to control it.

"Good choice! That's a county favorite. Hey, can I just see your license and registration, please? I'm sure you know what had happened in the county last year. We just need to make sure there's no more cultists running around," Morgan said.

The guy laughed- a fake laugh. It was convincing enough.

"Oh, well, I'm not much of a cultist. But here you go," he said, fishing his license out of his wallet.

Morgan looked it over. He was Trevor Beck, 24, from Missoula County.

"And my registration is here… somewhere…" Trevor began before opening his glove compartment and shifting through the papers there. Morgan gave him a few seconds. Trevor was taking quite a while to examine the small compartment.

Morgan looked up and into the driver's rearview mirror.

The guy in the sweatshirt was making a small, almost imperceptible movement. Something metallic was drawn from his waistband, something he attempted to cover up with his shirt. But, Morgan easily recognized the slide of a M1911 pistol.

"Gun!" Morgan shouted, immediately diving away.

Sweatshirt Guy raised his pistol and began blasting .45 caliber rounds through his closed window. The bullets shattered the glass but went wide and missed Morgan as he ran for cover behind the truck.

The booming reports of three .45 cal rounds made Grace jump, but she quickly reacted, drawing her weapon and getting into cover behind the truck.

Trevor drew a Glock 19 from the glove compartment and fired wildly at Morgan. He missed as well and Morgan got into cover at the back of the truck and drew his pistol.

The nervous Blue T-Shirt Guy jumped out of the car, now holding a sawed-off pump action shotgun. He fired once, blowing off the passenger's side mirror of the patrol truck and embedding buckshot in the side of the truck.

Grace leaned up, making herself as small of a target as possible, and rested her Beretta on the side of the truck. She fired twice, the expert markswoman easily landing both shots into Blue T-Shirt's head. His head snapped back as two bullets slammed through his nose. His shotgun went pointed to the sky and a blast went off. Grace had managed to kill him just as he pulled the trigger.

"Hang on!" Grace shouted to Morgan over the gunfire.

"Cover me!" she instructed as she climbed into the bed of the truck, crawled forward, and opened the small sliding window to access the cab.

As she did so, Morgan leaned out and emptied his entire thirteen round magazine. The three remaining suspects dove into cover as Morgan's bullets whizzed over their heads. Quick as he could, Morgan dropped out the empty magazine, listening to it clatter on the asphalt as he fished out a fresh magazine from his belt.

Grace leaned into the cab and grabbed her rifle. Now with some superior firepower, Grace shot up and leaned her rifle on the roof of the truck. Trevor had taken cover behind the open driver's side door of his car, but Grace sent two rounds in his direction. The thin metal of the car's door was no match for her 7.62mm rounds, which easily punched through the light cover and impacted with his abdomen.

Immediately transitioning her position, Grace took aim and fired one round at Grey Sleeveless Shirt Guy, who got out of his seat and attempted to take aim at Grace. Her round blew off his lower jaw and he immediately dropped, his head resting on the roof of their car.

The final guy was the tweaker in the black sweatshirt. Screaming, he jumped out of his seat and wildly fired at the two deputies. Grace fell back into cover and Morgan leaned around the back of the truck and fired once. The round hit the guy in his left shoulder. He stumbled but roared and tried to fire with one-hand. Morgan and Grace simultaneously sighted him up and fired several rounds- enough to put him down.

As quickly as it started, it was over.

Morgan was breathing heavily. He was still aiming down the sights of his Hi-Power and slowly began to lower his arms. The stench of gunpowder and blood hung heavily in the air. His mouth was dry and his heart pounded against his ribcage. It had been a while since his last shootout.

"Clear," he said, his voice sounding hollow.

"Clear," Grace confirmed.

They both headed to the front of the car and surveyed the damage.

"Well… call this in, I guess. I'll secure everything," Morgan said.

Grace nodded.

"Will do."

Morgan walked forward, his feet crunching on broken glass and empty brass casings. He heard Grace talking into her radio with Jenny, requesting ambulances and backup. Morgan approached Trevor's body, who still hand his Glock held tightly in his right hand.

"Stupid move, buddy," he muttered to the man's body.

"Hey, Morgan, where are we exactly?" Grace asked

"Just tell them to ping the transponder on the truck," Morgan instructed her, turning around to face her.

She nodded, then her eyes went wide.

Morgan was about to question what spooked her.

He did not see Trevor's "dead" body rising up, holding out his pistol.

Grace dropped her radio and began to raise up her rifle.

Morgan was just about to turn around when a single 9mm round impacted him from behind, slamming through his upper chest.

He cried out once, stumbling, and falling onto his face.

Grace shouted something incomprehensible and raised her weapon. Before Trevor could fire again, Grace unloaded several rounds, each of which found their mark and put down Trevor in a cloud of blood that exploded from his chest and head.

She immediately knelt down and flipped Morgan over. He looked up at her, blood flowing out of his mouth. Morgan was trying to say something.

"Don't talk! Don't talk!" she implored.

Grace reached for her radio and pressed the call button.

"Officer down! Officer down!"

* * *

The patrol truck blazed down Main Street and came to a stop right in front of the Sheriff's Office. Several residents of Fall's End were out, having heard what had happened. Mary was one of them.

She was attempting to keep her cool for the sake of the town, but it was very difficult. Worry ate away at her and a knot in her chest had formed, one that would not be going away for a while.

Sheriff Whitehorse was out there, as were Pratt and Hudson. Pratt carried a plastic headboard for transporting Morgan.

Grace leaped out of the truck and opened the rear doors. Morgan was laying down, a white bandage wrapped around his wound.

"Help me!" she called to anyone who would listen.

"Oh, Jesus!" Mary moaned when she saw him. Several other townspeople exclaimed in shock and fear at the sight of the wounded deputy.

Pratt, Hudson, Grace, and Whitehorse gently, but quickly, extracted Morgan and placed him on the headboard, strapping him down so he would not move.

"Why didn't you bring him to the clinic?" Mary shouted to Grace, who shook her head.

"The clinic? The fuckin' clinic? Morgan needs a trauma center!"

"Which we don't have," Whitehorse snapped as they moved to the backlot of the Sheriff's Office.

"Where's the nearest one?" Mary asked, following them.

"Missoula," Whitehorse responded, not looking up from his deputy.

"We need to drive there then! Where the hell are you going?"

Whitehorse nodded up at the helicopter parked behind the Sheriff's Office. It had been captured from Eden's Gate some time ago and everyone figured it would come in handy.

"We don't have time to drive there. We need to fly. Pratt- warm this thing up," Whitehorse instructed.

His deputy immediately jumped into the cockpit of the chopper.

"Come on, come in the back," he told Grace, who lifted Morgan up and placed him across the seats in the back.

"Shit, he's losing too much blood. We need to go," Grace spoke, putting pressure on Morgan's wounds.

"Mary, we're going to St. Patrick's Hospital. Meet us there."

"Sheriff, let me come!" she said.

"No room! Just go!"

Whitehorse, Grace, Pratt, and Hudson settled into their seats as the helicopter began to take off in a flurry of noise and wind.

"And let Jess know!" Whitehorse shouted over the noise.

Mary looked at her cellphone. She had already called Jess six times and sent a stream of text messages.

_Where the hell are you?_

* * *

Jess walked out of the woods and back to the tall grass where she had hidden her bag. Over her shoulder was a wolverine, a nasty little fucker specifically requested by a local taxidermist. She would be getting four hundred bucks out of an hour of tracking and one arrow. Not a bad deal.

As she approached her bag, she heard buzzing within.

Curious, she opened one of the side pockets and fished out her phone. She was just in time to see a missed call from Mary. Looking at her lock screen, she saw that she had missed six calls from Mary, three from Kim, and five from Grace. There were over thirty text messages in total from various senders.

Amused at the amount of people trying to contact her at first, Jess scrolled through the messages. However, her heart skipped a beat when she read one of Mary's many texts.

" _MORGAN SHOT I'M NOT KIDDING GET THE FUCK BACK TO TOWN_ "

Another one read:

" _WHERE R U?_ "

She continued to scroll, looking in disbelief at what she was reading. Suddenly, Jess felt very sick. She wanted to just lean over and vomit. A strange feeling in the pit of her stomach worked its way up her chest. Bile welled up in her mouth.

Jess actually stumbled, almost like she was going to faint.

But, she pushed back that grief, horror, and anger for a few moments. She decided to turn all those feelings into action. Dropping the wolverine, she picked up her things. Jess broke into a sprint towards town.

* * *

There were many curious exclamations when a helicopter landed in the parking lot of St. Patrick's Hospital in Missoula. Several people walked out of the emergency room to figure out exactly why somehow parked a chopper in front of the hospital.

Immediately, four people ran out carrying a fifth man, bloody and barely conscious.

"Out of the way!" Sheriff Whitehorse shouted at several hospital employees and visitors crowding the entrance.

"We need help!" Grace cried to anyone who would listen.

Immediately, the curiosity of the ER employees turned into shock when they saw the blood covering Deputy Morgan Rook's uniform.

Two nurses came over and quickly began to assess him.

"What happened?" one of them asked.

"He got shot!" Grace exclaimed.

Two more nurses bought over a stretcher. Together, they transferred Morgan onto the stretcher. One of the nurses clamped an oxygen mask over his face.

"Doctor Rhine!" one of the nurses called.

A bespectacled middle-aged man in a white lab coat jogged over.

"What's his name? And how old is he?" he asked.

"Morgan. Uh… twenty-nine. We're from Hope County," Sheriff Whitehorse explained.

A few of the nurses exchanged glances.

"Hope County? Is this Morgan Rook?" one of them asked.

The assembled law enforcers nodded in confirmation.

"That's him," Hudson said quietly.

"Let's get him in, now," Doctor Rhine instructed to the nurses and aides around him.

With that, they began wheeling Morgan past the doors of the emergency room, leaving Morgan's breathless comrades behind. The other people in the waiting room watched the doors shut and began to mutter amongst themselves.

The sheriff and his deputies eventually migrated over to the waiting area and slowly took their seats. Whitehorse doffed his Stetson and shook his head.

"Fucking hell," he mumbled. The other cops nodded in agreement.

"How did it happen?" Pratt asked Grace, realizing that no one knew other details other than that their friend and coworker had been shot. In the moment, that were the only details that mattered.

"We came upon some suspects that matched the descriptions of the guys who tried to hit the chemical supply. Figured they were trying to find ingredients to cook meth. They started shooting at us. We shot back. Killed three of them. The fourth was playing dead and shot Morgan in the back."

"Jesus," Hudson said, burying her face into her hands.

"Fuck… I should've made sure that guy was dead. I was the one who shot him first," Grace started, remorse evident in her voice.

"Hey," Whitehorse warned, "this is  _not_  your fault. Blame the sorry excuses for human beings that were looking to murder two of my deputies."

Grace did not reply and could only rub the bridge of her nose with her fingers. She looked at her shoes, shaking her head. Whitehorse reached over and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

With that, the cops began the long wait for news about their friend's condition.

* * *

The world was swimming around Morgan's eyes. A dull pain reverberated around his chest. He felt weak and lethargic, which was bad because he wanted to move. Morgan just felt really out of it.

_Oh, because I got shot_ , he idly thought to himself.

Everything seemed strange and distant. Lights passed over him.

_Shit_ …  _am I dead or something_?

He reached up a hand go and touch the lights, only for a nurse to push it back down.

Doctor Bernard Rhine leaned over him.

"Deputy Rook? My name is Doctor Rhine, you're in a hospital. We're going to take good care of you, okay?"

_I'd appreciate that_ , Morgan wanted to say. He just groaned instead.

The hospital staff parked Morgan's stretcher in one of the empty rooms in the ER.

"What do we have?" one of the residents, Doctor Chris Harper, asked as he jogged over to Morgan's stretcher.

"Male, twenty-nine. GSW to the upper left side of the chest," Doctor Rhine explained.

Doctor Harper looked over at Morgan's uniform, which a nurse was cutting away with shears.

"Wait, this guy's a cop?" Harper asked.

"Yeah. From Hope County. They had to fly him in- parked their chopper right outside."

"Hope County? Was this from those cultists that were operating there?"

"I don't know," Doctor Rhine said with a shrug.

"Whoa," Doctor Harper said when he saw Morgan's nametag, "'M. Rook?' Like Morgan Rook? That deputy that's been in the papers and on the news?"

"Looks like it," Doctor Rhine replied as he undid the dressing Grace had applied to Morgan's wounds. They were soaked crimson and the blood began to flow freely once they were removed.

"They managed to bandage him up at least. It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing. Alright. Get me six units of O-neg. Page surgery and let them know they might have to open this guy up. Put in a stat chest x-ray and get me a chest tube," Doctor Rhine instructed those around him, who immediately ran off to carry out their tasks.

Doctor Rhine leaned over to listen to Morgan's breathing. Morgan stirred and grabbed the doctor's lab coat.

"Jess…" he muttered weakly.

Not understanding what he meant, Doctor Rhine patted him on the shoulder.

"Just try to relax. You're going to be fine, deputy."

* * *

The doors to the ER waiting room opened and Jess ran in, followed by Mary, Nick, and Kim.

Jess ran to the waiting members of the Sheriff's Department.

"Where is he?" she frantically asked anyone who would answer.

"They took him into the ER. He's going to be fine," Whitehorse said, although his tone betrayed his own distrust in the words he spoke.

Jess immediately turned and made her way for the doors to deeper into the hospital. A pair of security guards jumped up to stop her.

"Hey, wait! You can't go in there!" one of them told her.

"Get the fuck out of my way right now!" she roared, pushing against both the men.

"Jess! Jess, hey, wait!" Mary pleaded, jumping up and grabbing Jess by the shoulders, pulling her away from the guards.

"What?  _What_?" she snapped.

"Jess, listen to me," Mary said, firmly gripping both her shoulders and looking into her eyes, "they're going to help Morgan. He will pull through this. He's survived a lot worse than one stupid bullet. So, let's just sit down and let the doctors do their thing. Okay?"

Jess was breathing heavily, giving Mary a hard look in reply.

"Okay?" Mary asked again, softer now.

Jess finally exhaled.

"Okay."

Mary lead Jess to the seats where the rest of the Hope County residents had settled in. Taking Jess's hand, Mary had Jess sit next to her. She gave Jess a light, reassuring squeeze.

"I can't fucking believe this. I… I just can't. This doesn't seem fucking real at all," she spoke, bewildered.

"I know, I know," Mary said sympathetically.

"We spend months fighting Joseph's dipshits and he barely got a scratch. A year after, and some fucking asshole manages to shoot him. It's like some sort of joke almost."

"They weren't any of our people," Grace interjected.

"Does it really matter?" Jess said.

"I suppose not. But I just wanted you to know that the people who did this were not anyone from Hope."

"Again, does it matter? They put Morgan in the hospital."

Grace exhaled and looked away.

Kim stood up and walked over to Jess.

"Oh, my God…" she muttered as she leaned over and hugged Jess. It took a moment, but Jess hugged her back.

Jess sniffled, feeling tears well up in her eyes.

This was the second time she had cried in a long time. Both times were over Morgan.

"It's gonna be okay," Kim reassured her.

"It better be," Jess said, wiping away a single tear that rolled down her cheek.

Losing Morgan was just not something that she ever considered could happen. They had fought together, side-by-side, during the war against Eden's Gate. And like she said, nothing particularly bad happened to either of them. But after the war, after Eden's Gate became a note for the history books,  _now_  Morgan is forced to fight for his life.

It just wasn't fair.

* * *

The day crept on, eventually turning into night. More people from Hope County showed up, eventually packing the waiting room with concerned friends and allies. An hour ago, Doctor Rhine reappeared from the depths of the hospital to inform them Morgan was on the way to surgery.

"The good news is, his injuries are treatable," he had said.

"And the bad news?" Whitehorse had asked.

"He needs surgery. He's going in right now. The surgeons are going to have to open up his chest to clean the wound and inflate his left lung."

That was an hour ago. No new news came since then.

Some of the ER staff offered to buy everyone some takeout. They all declined, though. No one was particularly hungry. Besides, how could they sit there eating pizza while their friend was getting his chest ripped open at the same time?

Jess was sitting where she was, staring at the wall. She tried to occupy herself with positive thoughts. Like what her and Morgan would do after he got out of the hospital with a clean bill of health.

_Morgan is going to pull through, of course he will. He's hard to kill._

She tried her best to keep her thoughts away from the very real possibility he could die. Die because some fucking punk got a lucky shot.

"Hey Jess," Kim said softly as she sat next to her, "how are you holding up?"

Jess just shrugged.

"I'd be better if they told me he was fine."

"Don't worry. Please."

"It's hard not to."

Kim nodded.

"I know… I really do."

"This is bullshit!" Jess suddenly growled.

"I know it is!" Kim responded.

"This is seriously the story of my fucking life. I get something good happening, I'm happy, everything is looking up, and then some motherfucker comes in and takes that away from me. It happens all the fuckin' time!"

"Jess! Morgan is going to pull through," Kim confidently told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You seem sure of that," she muttered back.

"I am sure. That man is something else. He's gone through so much already and…"

"And what?"

"You two still have so much to do together," she whispered to Jess.

Jess wiped away another tear that suddenly appeared. Kim was right. They had  _so_  much left to do. Their relationship had just begun.

_Please, don't fucking take this from me. Please_ , she silently begged anyone or anything that would listen.

* * *

Two more agonizing hours went by. Several people went up to the front desk to ask politely, ask firmly, and finally demand updates on Morgan's status. The response was the same every time.

_Doctor Rhine will let you know_.

The doors to the ER swung up with a long  _creak_. Dozens of heads swung in the direction of the double doors and saw Doctor Rhine emerge from the depth of the hospital. He wore a completely neutral expression, meaning no one could deduce what sort of news he would convey.

Jess and Whitehorse hopped up from their seats simultaneously. Jess reached the doctor first.

"How is he?" she blurted, her eyes wide and filled with apprehension.

Doctor Rhine nodded.

"He is doing okay."

"Oh, thank God," Jess breathed. She let her shoulders down, sighing in relief as she did so.

Whitehorse let out a long breath before turning to the other Hope County residents who were watching him.

"Morgan's okay, everyone!"

A cheer went through the crowd, along with several claps.

"Where is he now? Can I see him?" Jess implored, ready to dash into the hospital when the doctor said she could.

He shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Miss Black. We've moved him into the post-anesthesia care unit for the next two hours."

"Okay, so in two hours I can see him. Right?" she asked.

"Well, after his time in the PACU, he will be admitted to the hospital so we can make sure he's healing nicely."

"So, when can I see him?"

"We're not allowing any visitors for tonight. I'm sorry."

"Why the fuck not?" she snapped, causing the doctor to recoil slightly.

Whitehorse stepped forward, putting a placating hand on Jess's shoulder.

"I figure he just needs to rest, right?" he asked the doctor.

Doctor Rhine nodded.

"Yes. I think that will be best for now. He will also be placed on a ventilator for tonight to help him breath regularly. And in all honesty, he probably would be completely unresponsive if you saw him now. He's still recovering from anesthesia and is on painkillers."

"I just want to see if he's okay!" Jess said fiercely.

"Miss Black, if you come back tomorrow afternoon, Morgan will be alert and ready for visitors. I promise. We're going to do everything we can for him. The Montana State Government called us earlier and told us to put him in a private room and fast-track any treatment he may receive. He's a hero. And we're going to make sure he gets treated as such. Okay?"

Jess finally relented.

"Okay," she said, "I'm going to be back tomorrow afternoon."

That was a promise. Not a request.

Jess and Whitehorse went back to their seats while Doctor Rhine came to talk to the larger group about what had happened.

"Okay, folks, so Deputy Rook is currently recovering from his surgery and will be admitted to the hospital. He is extraordinarily lucky. The bullet was a full metal jacket round, not a hollow point, and thus did not shatter on impact. The bullet also did not hit any of his ribs when exiting his body. He should be able to recover quicker because of this."

"What exactly did you have to do?" Mary asked.

"The surgical team had to open up his chest to repair and inflate his left lung. We also placed a chest tube into his chest wall to help keep out fluids and keep his lung inflated."

"How long will he stay in the hospital?" Nick spoke up.

"We're looking at three weeks if everything goes smoothly."

"Can we see him?" Adelaide asked from the back.

Doctor Rhine shook his head.

"I already explained this to the sheriff and Miss Black- tomorrow afternoon is when he can start receiving visitors. Right now, we just want him to rest while we keep an eye on him."

Their questions satisfied, the doctor exited. Jess ran up to catch him.

"Doctor…"

"Yes, Miss Black?"

She licked her lips and looked down at the floor briefly.

"I just want to say 'sorry' for getting mad at you earlier. I'm just…"

"A little on edge?" Doctor Rhine asked with a small smile.

Jess laughed humorlessly and nodded.

"Yeah. You could say that."

"It's no problem. I totally understand. Oh, and thank the surgery team. I just did the easy stuff."

"Well, shit, whatever you and your buddies did, it worked. Thanks again."

Doctor Rhine gave one more smile.

"Of course, Miss Black."

Jess walked away, back to Mary and Kim.

"You good?" Mary asked, rubbing her shoulder.

"Better. I'm just sad I wasn't there to fuck up the people who did this."

"From what Grace told me, they're pretty fucked up already," Kim said.

They watched as the people of Hope County began to slowly evacuate the hospital waiting room.

"You wanna get going?" Mary asked Jess.

She nodded.

"Yeah. But I'll be back tomorrow at noon."

"I'll drive you," Mary said, "we can go together."

As Jess walked out of the hospital into the cool night, she smiled genuinely for the first time in hours. The wave of relief she felt with each step was immeasurable. She was correct after all.

Her man was hard to kill.

* * *

When she came home from the hospital, Boomer sensed something was wrong. His master was not home at the appointed time. He had not played frisbee in the yard with his mom and dad. The Blue Heeler knew something was up. He saw Jess… but where was Morgan?

When Jess opened the door, Boomer came to her, wagging his tail and receiving some pets, but moved past Jess and stared out the door as if Morgan was just outside.

"Morgan's hurt, bud," Jess whispered to Boomer as she bent down to pet him. He stared at her, ears up and head cocked.

Jess stood up and sighed. She wished she could convey to the dog what was going on. Silently, Jess headed to the bedroom and got ready for bed. Boomer dutifully trotted after her, sensing something was indeed very wrong. As Jess settled into bed alone, Boomer came over to the side Morgan usually occupied and whined softly.

"I know. I know. I'll see him tomorrow and tell you how he's doing. Sound good?"

Boomer wagged his tail.

Jess smirked.

"I'll take that as a 'yes.'"

* * *

Morgan rubbed at his throat and watched as the respiratory therapist gathered up the pieces of the medical ventilator he had just spent the night on. He was quite happy to be rid of the thing.

"How are you feeling?" the therapist asked him.

"Better. Got that thing out of me. Can't say I had a fun time on it."

She smiled.

"I understand, Deputy Rook. Hopefully it'll be the last time you're on it."

"Man, does everyone know me as 'Deputy Rook?'" he asked with an amused chuckle.

"Seems it. You've been the talk of the hospital."

"Oh, boy. I'm famous," he said with a hint of sarcasm.

The RT smiled again.

"You sure are, deputy. Okay, some of the nurses from the floors will come down and bring you upstairs to your room. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," Morgan nodded.

She smiled one last time and left.

Morgan leaned back in his hospital bed and sighed heavily. There was pain in his chest, but it was not particularly intense and he was able to ignore it after some concentration. He figured his pain meds were doing their job. Morgan did not remember much about his surgery and the immediate recovery. Morgan chalked that up to a combination of anesthesia and pain medication. When he felt lucid again, Morgan found a tube shoved down his throat attached to a buzzing machine.

It was not a fun time.

But, that was over. Now the recovery process could begin and he could get the hell out of there eventually.

* * *

As promised, Morgan was wheeled up in the bed and placed in a sunny room on the third floor. He noticed that there was no one else in the room with him, unlike the other rooms, which had two patients each in them.

_Oh boy, I'm getting the VIP treatment_ , he joked to himself as he looked out at the cars passing outside below him.

There was a knock at the door. Morgan turned and saw a young woman with dark hair tied up in a messy bun grinning at him. She was wearing white scrubs with matching white sneakers. Morgan deduced her identity rather quickly.

"Hi, Mr. Rook, my name is Anne-Marie and I'll be your nurse," she said pleasantly.

"Nice to meet you."

She smiled brightly. Morgan loved the nurse's demeanor already.

"So, you're a bit of a celebrity, Mr. Rook. Or should I say, Deputy Rook?"

He chuckled.

"I guess news travels fast."

"You're the talk of the nurse's station, deputy."

"So, just a few things…" Anne-Marie began.

She held up a plastic bag marked "PATIENT BELONGINGS." Inside were a few of his things that were on his person when he came to the hospital. His phone, a couple of pens he stuck into his shirt pocket, his badge, his wallet, and his car keys.

"That should be everything, honey. Except your gun and all the clips and your knife- those are just locked up until you get outta here. Okay?" she asked sweetly.

Morgan nodded.

"As much I'd like to have my gun with me, I think I can understand that."

"I'm glad we're in agreement, deputy! Now, let me just check your bandages. How are you feeling, overall?"

Morgan gave a small shrug.

"Uh, pretty good. Considering the circumstances."

Anne-Marie giggled, a high pitched, appropriately girlish giggle.

"I can understand, sweetie," she said as she leaned in and pushed up his hospital gown.

Morgan looked down at the bandage covering the vertical surgical wound on the left side of his chest. He also looked over at the gauze pad bandaged over the bullet wound that marred his chest. A similar one covered the wound on his back where the bullet entered.

Anne-Marie peeled back the bandage over his surgical wound and Morgan saw the red, scarred fleshed held together by black sutures.

"That looks like it'll leave a mark," he commented whimsically.

"Looks like it, deputy," Anne-Marie agreed as she gently placed a new bandage over the wound.

"And… done," the nurse announced a few minutes later, gathering up the old bandage and other refuse.

"Thank you!"

She smiled sweetly once more.

"It's what I'm here for, deputy. Press your call button if you need anything. I'll be back with your medications soon."

Anne-Marie exited. Morgan turned over and looked at the ceiling. He sighed heavily and shook his head.

_Just my luck_.

Morgan was all set to go and ask Jess to be his wife. He had this great plan being formulated in his mind. He was even looking at rings. But no.

_Some asshole had to shoot me_.

Morgan could not do anything about it. At least this time in the hospital would give him plenty of time to plan the perfect proposal.

* * *

Jess had become so used to having a warm body next to her in bed that she found it hard to sleep without her lover next to her. It was funny. Just a year earlier, Jess was totally content with sleeping alone. It was what she was used to and what she expected day in and day out. But now… she wanted nothing else but to have Morgan next to her.

When the afternoon rolled around, Jess packed a bag with stuff for Morgan and jogged out, where Mary was waiting in her truck, just as she said she would.

"Hey," Jess greeted as she climbed into the cab.

"Hey."

"So, who else is going?" Jess asked while Mary began to drive.

"Most of the cops. Adelaide. Sharky. Your uncle, I think."

"I'm going first," Jess stated.

"Of course, we all agreed on that. He should see you first."

They silently continued driving towards the tunnel out of Hope County.

"How are you, Jess?" Mary asked a few minutes after leaving town.

She shrugged.

"Like I've been saying- I'll be better once I see him."

"He's going to be fine."

"Yeah. He will," Jess said, confidently now.

She peered out of the window for a few minutes.

"Hey, um, can I ask you something?" Jess asked Mary a few minutes later.

"What's up?"

"Do you think me and Morgan should get married?"

Mary looked over at her, wondering if Jess was serious. The look on her face said she was.

"Well… I'm not one to tell you how your relationship should go."

"I just want your opinion."

Mary licked her lips and nodded.

"Yeah. I think so."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah! Why not? You guys are made for each other."

"You really think that?"

"Absolutely. Like, I wish I had a man who looks at me the way Morgan looks at you!"

They both laughed at that.

"Well, shit, we are pretty cute. I will admit that."

"Even you realize that," Mary said with a chuckle.

"It's taken a while."

"But, seriously. You two have this… thing, this connection, that no one can understand like you guys can. I don't think I've ever seen two people more meant for each other than you and Morgan."

"You really mean that?"

Mary flicked on the headlights as they entered the tunnel, nodding while doing so.

"Without a doubt. Now, if you guys do get married, I'll be sure to cater."

Jess smiled.

"Good. One less thing to spend money on."

* * *

"Deputy Rook, it's time for your meds!" Anne-Marie announced as she briskly walked into Morgan's room, holding a small plastic cup with some pills in it.

"These are your antibiotics and painkillers," she explained as she poured Morgan some water.

Morgan eyed the massive pills, wondering how exactly he would be forcing those down his throat.

"I know, they're a little big, but I think you'll be okay," Anne-Marie said, as if she was reading his mind.

"Watch. I'll survive getting shot only to choke to death on some pills," Morgan mused as he tossed back the pills and swallowed them with great difficulty.

Anne-Marie giggled and went to leave him room.

"There you go! I knew you had it in you, sweetie."

Morgan smiled and leaned back, looking at his phone. There were numerous messages from various friends, all asking about his condition. Some were several hours old, sent at a time when he was still barely conscious. He did his best to respond to everyone. What he thought was odd was that Jess only sent a single message.

_I love you. I'll be there soon._

She had sent it forty-five minutes earlier.

Anne-Marie reappeared, grinning sweetly as Morgan figured she was known to do.

"You have visitors!"

"Visitors? Plural?" Morgan laughed.

Anne-Marie disappeared.

Jess walked into his room.

Morgan immediately froze and looked up at her. Without even thinking about it, he smiled. He smiled so broadly, like a kid on his birthday.

"Jess…" he managed to let out.

"Oh my God," Jess breathed as she strode over to him and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"Oh my God," she repeated softly into his shoulder.

"Hey," he replied simply.

Jess let go of him and focused her eyes into his own. Wordlessly, both of them leaned forward to kiss each other. Jess kissed him with such passion, such vigor, Morgan knew she did not have to say a word. He returned it with everything he could muster.

Together, they were telling each other how scared they both were and how happy both of them were in that moment.

"I'm sorry," Morgan began after they finally broke apart, "I probably smell really bad."

Jess smiled as she pressed her forehead to his. Morgan worked a hand to the back of her hair.

"I don't care. At all. I'm just… ah, shit. I'm gonna cry."

Morgan chuckled.

"Don't cry over me, I'm not worth your tears."

"Shut the fuck up!" she half laughed, half cried as she wiped away a tear.

"I'm glad to see you too," Morgan said with a smile.

Jess leaned in to embrace him once more.

"They wouldn't let me see you last night," she spoke into his neck.

"You wouldn't have seen much anyway."

"Still. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Look at me! I'm great!" Morgan said, pointing at himself.

Jess snorted and stood up.

"Yeah, the big-ass tear in your chest tells me otherwise."

"Whatever. I'm alive, right?"

She smiled.

"That's what matters in the end."

Jess shifted and withdrew the small bag she had packed for Morgan.

"Okay, I got you some clothes, your toothbrush, your phone charger, your laptop, that book you started reading… and that's it I think," she listed.

"Wow, you're so caring. Never would've imagined Jess Black would do this for anyone," Morgan said, smiling as he did so.

Jess bent down and softly kissed him.

"Don't get used to it," she whispered, smirking.

"I think I might be here for a few weeks. Is that okay with you?" he asked her.

Jess frowned, looking at him like he was stupid.

"Why the hell wouldn't that be okay? It's not like you have a choice."

"Just making sure."

Jess leaned down and cupped Morgan's left cheek with one of her hands.

"Whatever it takes for you to get better and for you to come home. Because I miss you already."

* * *

When Jess left, Whitehorse, Pratt, and Hudson entered next. They all wore expressions that showed their immense relief.

"How you doing, Rook?" Whitehorse asked as he took a seat next to him.

"I'm good. As I've been saying- I'm alive and that's really what matters, I guess."

Morgan motioned around to the equipment surrounding him.

"All I can wonder is how much it actually cost to keep me around."

"If you're worried about that, you got insurance through the county," Whitehorse assured him.

Morgan sighed.

"Yeah, but what if it ain't enough?"

The sheriff held up a hand to stop Morgan.

"If you think that the people back home are going to let you go bankrupt over this shit, you got another thing coming."

"Rook… don't worry about it. At all," Hudson told him.

Morgan sighed again and shook his head.

"I don't need people to foot my bills."

"Enough. After all this shit we've been through, we're all family," Whitehorse reminded him.

"Besides- you have a lot you need to get done. With your girl," Hudson added.

Morgan had to smile at that.

"That I do."

* * *

"Hey, deputy, I was thinking," Sharky said to Morgan.

Morgan was almost afraid to ask what exactly he was thinking.

"What's up?"

Sharky leaned forward in the chair he had pulled close to Morgan's bed.

"Look man, take me with you when you come back to the county and you're back to patrolling."

Morgan opened his mouth to protest, but Sharky held up his hands and waved them vigorously.

"Wait! Wait. Okay, like, you got Grace and everything, she's super fucking badass and stuff, I know. But does she have a flamethrower? No!"

"That's probably a good thing."

Sharky flashed a toothy smile.

"Nah, man, listen. I'm just thinking. They were talking about how you and Grace got into that shootout with those dealers and like, I was thinking, one good Molotov and you could've dealt with those assholes."

"Believe it or not- Molotov cocktails and flamethrowers are not standard police gear."

"Which is bullshit!"

"Look… Sharky… I appreciate the enthusiasm, but our job is to protect and preserve the county. Not burn it down after spewing flame towards some guy who broke into someone's car."

Sharky sighed heavily and shook his head.

"I just miss watching your back, man."

Morgan nodded. Among the few good things that came out of the war with Eden's Gate was the fact that numerous people found their purpose. Jess, of course, but Sharky was one of the others. He channeled his destructive fascination with fire and explosions into a powerful force that made life quite miserable for any cultist fighters he came across. But those days were done and Sharky was back to his old routine- burning shit down and getting arrested for it. Morgan tried to help him, but the man was certainly set in his ways. Morgan only hoped that his ways would not get him killed one day.

"You know, Hurk wanted me to give you this. He sends his regards, since he volunteered to stay behind and do police shit while we came to visit you," Sharky said, reaching into his hoodie and pulling out a silver flask.

Morgan eyed the container suspiciously.

"Is that, uh, some sort of traditional Kyrati brew or something? If so, I don't really know if I should be drinking that right now…"

Sharky laughed.

"Ah, man, it's just beer! Figured you'd want something to take the edge off. This place is dry as a bone."

Morgan rolled his eyes.

"It's a hospital, Sharky."

* * *

When Adelaide came in, she looked like she was about to cry. Before Morgan could say a word, she launched herself towards him and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow! Adelaide! My chest!"

She quickly let go of him, wiping away a few tears.

"Ah, shit, honey. I'm sorry!"

He smiled.

"It's fine. Still in one piece."

Adelaide smiled.

"God, how are you feeling? I mean, besides the whole 'you got shot' sort of thing."

"I'm doing okay."

"When are you getting out of here?"

"Doctors told me… three weeks? If everything is okay."

Adelaide shook her head.

"Goddamn, if I had a chance to get at those fuckers who did this to my favorite deputy…"

"Whoa, slow down! They're already pretty dead."

"Yeah, I know! And I wish I was there to make it happen!"

She leaned back in her chair.

"You see Jess yet?"

"Of course I did," Morgan confirmed.

Adelaide smiled at that.

"Aw, should've known your girl would've been here first."

"That much you can rely on."

"Now, I know a lot of people have been asking when you two are going to get married. But, let me tell you, it's a fucking trap."

"Or maybe you just have a negative view of marriage after your own."

Adelaide chuckled.

"That I do. Shit, what am I saying? Go get married. You two are adorable as hell. I'll do her makeup and pick out a dress for her and a suit for you. Sound good?"

"Good luck convincing Jess to wear a wedding dress."

"I have my ways, honey."

Morgan smirked.

"Again. Good luck."

"So, you  _are_  going to ask her to marry you, right?"

Morgan paused and pursed his lips.

"I… you won't tell anyone, will you?"

"My lips are sealed, sweetheart. Promise."

"Once I get out of this hospital, I'm going to take her on a hike up in the Whitetails."

Adelaide leaned forward and smiled excitedly.

"Yeah?" she squeaked.

"And I'm gonna take her to this one spot he passed by last summer. Nice place- really fucking beautiful. I'm going to ask her to marry me right there."

Adelaide clapped her hands together and smiled proudly.

"That's my deputy. Got a ring?"

"No, not yet. That's something on my to-do list."

"Oh, honey, I can definitely recommend a few. I think I know what Jess would be into."

"No offense, but I don't think Jess would like anything with some gigantic diamond on it."

She smiled wryly.

"You know me so well. If that's the case, then I leave it up to you."

"I'll try my best," Morgan said.

Mary appeared at the door.

"Oh… sorry, Adelaide, didn't realize you were still talking to him."

Adelaide stood up and motioned for her to come in.

"Nah, it's okay, honey, you can go ahead."

"Thanks, Addie," Mary said with a smile as the older woman exited.

Mary settled in the seat where Adelaide had just vacated. She just looked at Morgan and shook her head.

"Ah, Morgan…"

"What?"

"I just… shit… I can't believe this happened!"

"I can't say I was expecting it either," he said with a smirk.

"You take on an army of psychotic, assault rifle-wielding cultists and barely get a scratch. And some fucking methhead shoots you."

He shrugged.

"Well, life throws you little curveballs."

"I guess. But, you're okay. And I'm happy to see that. But let me just ask… what is that thing right there?" she asked, pointing to the apparatus connected to a tube extending into Morgan's chest.

Morgan smiled and lifted up his hospital gown. Mary screwed her face in disgust at the sight of the tube implanted into the left side of his chest.

"Oh man, that's kinda gross. Does it… feel weird?"

He shrugged.

"It's not bad actually. I got used to it already."

"Oh, that's good to know. I guess."

Morgan laughed.

"I've had worse done to me."

"Which is why I try not to worry too much. I told Jess this. It'll take you more than one gunshot to do you in."

"Damn right."

"Hey, so, I just want to let you know that I'll be looking out for Jess. Okay?"

"I don't think she needs it. We all know how Jess is."

"Normally, I'd be inclined to agree. But, she was really torn up about this. I have no doubt she can take care of herself. Not a single doubt. But, I'll be around to make sure she's doing okay. I'll do that until you get your ass out of this place. Alright?"

"I mean… I guess it wouldn't hurt if you dropped by our place. I'd know I would feel the same way if she was in my place."

"Exactly."

"So, uh, speaking of. I'm going to ask her to marry me when I get out of here."

Mary's eyes went wide and she smiled broadly.

"I've been waiting for you to say that."

"Seems everyone is. Make sure you don't tell her, okay?"

"Yeah, of course! Can I be a bridesmaid?"

He laughed.

"Goddamn, I tell people I'm just planning to propose and everyone just goes ahead and starts planning the wedding for me."

Mary laughed back and shrugged.

"Hey, it's good to have a plan in mind."

"As for having bridesmaids, DJs, and whatever, I don't know. I think we should keep it simple. She'll like that."

"Simple doesn't mean you have to miss out on things. Look- you get married, we'll all make sure it's special. Got it?"

"You got it."

"Good. Now get better soon so I can start planning!"

* * *

The final visitor for the day was Dutch. It was the first time Morgan had seen the man exit his bunker. It must have been a special occasion then.

"Hey, kid," he greeted.

"Hey, Dutch. Nice to see you above ground for once."

The older man smiled and settled in the chair next to Morgan's bed.

"I heard what happened. I knew I had to come see you."

"Well, I certainly appreciate that."

"God, kid, you're lucky as hell. That could've gone a lot of ways and… yeah."

"I should've bought a lotto ticket," Morgan laughed.

"Damn right! You could've moved out of this place by now."

"Well, there's your problem. I don't wanna leave here."

"I figured not. I doubt Jess would want to follow."

"That's true. This place is her home. Mine too. Wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

"Even with methheads taking shots at you?" Dutch joked.

"Even then. Part of the charm."

Both men laughed at Morgan's rather lighthearted response to the life-threatening situation he had found himself in.

"Oh, that reminds me. Uh… regarding Jess."

Dutch sat up.

"Yeah?" he asked, not sure where he was going with this.

"So. Uh, I don't really know how to say this."

Dutch looked at him oddly.

"Alright. So," Morgan continued, "I'm going to ask Jess to marry me and I just want to make sure that's okay by you."

His words hung in the air for several very long seconds. Dutch leaned back, not saying anything at first. He looked somewhat confused.

"Are… are you asking me for my blessing? Or whatever?"

"I…" Morgan began sheepishly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am."

Dutch laughed, not something Morgan wanted to hear.

"Jesus, kid. I'm not her dad. You don't have to ask me that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know! It's just… ah, shit. Call me old-fashioned, I guess, but I just want to run it by you. Because you're the only family she had left. And I want to make sure you would be happy with this."

"Why do you care what I think so much?"

"Because I respect you, Dutch. I respect whatever feelings you may have."

Dutch was silent for several long moments. He nodded once.

"You are quite old-fashioned indeed," he said with a smirk.

"The way I see it- Jess is an adult and can do whatever she wants. I can't stop her. But, I've had time to think about you and her since this started. And I've come to realize that there's no one else I'd rather have marrying her. So, yeah, Morgan. You go and marry her and live happily ever after."

Morgan smiled and fell back onto his pillow. He laughed to himself and looked up at the ceiling.

"Thanks, Dutch. That really means a lot."

"You're a good man, Morgan. You really are. Jess loves you and I can understand why."

Dutch reached out his hand and Morgan firmly shook it. After that, Dutch put his hand on Morgan's shoulder and gripped it firmly before nodding.

"I guess this means I'm going to be your… step-uncle?"

Morgan laughed.

"Man, I don't even know. Give me some time to figure that out."


	11. Forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's a new chapter- sorry for the late update! I've had a pretty busy week. As always, I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Also... being a generic fanfic writer, I made a playlist of songs I feel fit with this story. Give it a listen if you're so inclined to set the mood.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK6Fh1ILxOMQnuTXePLUGy_zhpID6ZNn9

Morgan lightly rubbed the bandaged slice in his flesh where his chest tube had once been. A week on that thing had been enough. Luckily, last night, his doctor decided his wound was clean and had the nurses remove the chest tube and the heavy apparatus it came with. This was a good sign and would help to make his recovery more bearable. He could get up, be a little more mobile. It also meant he was one step closer to getting out of there.

He was waiting to be transported that morning for an CT scan to see how his lung was doing. The steady supply of medication meant that the pain was mostly tolerable. All that he needed to worry about was taking it easy with his sutures, a fact Anne-Marie made sure to remind him of constantly.

As he stared at the ceiling and listened to some patient shouting down the hall, Morgan felt his phone vibrate against his hip. Picking it up, he saw Jess had texted him and sent an attached picture.

 _Hey, how are you feeling?_  It read.

He looked at the picture she had sent. It was a picture of her standing in front of their bedroom mirror wearing black underwear with her left arm covering her bare breasts. Her right arm had her phone pointed into the mirror to photograph herself and she wore a slight, but flirtatious, smile on her face.

Morgan's stomach tightened at the explicit sight he was seeing. He looked over his shoulder as if someone had somehow infiltrated his room in the meantime. Morgan stowed his phone when he heard someone knock at the open door.

"Uh, come in!" he said.

A young man with light brown hair and wearing thick framed glasses entered his room, pushing a black wheelchair ahead of him.

"Hello, Deputy Rook, my name in Callum, I'm here to bring you down for your CT scan," the young man announced.

Morgan smiled. "Sounds good."

Callum motioned to the wheelchair.

"Are you okay to go down in this wheelchair?"

"Yeah, that should be fine," Morgan said as he got up from his bed. The pain in his chest briefly throbbed, but he ignored it. With a few slightly unsteady steps, Morgan plopped himself down in the wheelchair, which Callum immediately turned around and wheeled out.

"Buh-bye, sweetie, I'll see you soon!" Anne-Marie called from the nurse's station as they passed her.

"So," Morgan started as Callum pressed the call button for the nearby elevator, "you're the fifth person in this hospital to refer to me as 'Deputy Rook.'"

Callum chuckled.

"What can I say, deputy, you're a celebrity!"

"Not sure I want to be, to be honest."

"Sometimes, stuff like that happens and you can't really help it, I guess," Callum mused as he pushed Morgan into the elevator.

"So, I've been the talk of the hospital?" he asked the young man.

Callum nodded.

"Yep. You're been the topic of many breakroom conversations, deputy."

"And what exactly have those topics been about?"

Callum laughed.

"It's flattering, I promise you. Most people talk about you fighting those cultists out in Hope… uh, what were they called? Eden's Tower?"

"Eden's Gate," Morgan corrected, "or more accurately, the Project at Eden's Gate."

"Project at Eden's Gate," Callum repeated, "so, P.E.G? Not a great acronym. Eden's Gate rolls off the tongue more."

"We called them Peggies," Morgan said.

Callum smirked.

"Appropriate. Can I ask you something?"

"Uh, depends," Morgan joked.

"Well, one of the x-ray techs said she read an article that said you blew up a plane with a bow and arrow. Is that true?"

"Uh… no. That was actually my girlfriend, Jess. She's the one all about bows. I like guns. She made these arrows that explode on contact, right? We were fighting one day and the cult had this plane coming for us. I was running for cover and shouting for her to get out of the way. She just stood there, readied her arrow, and just blew the plane out of the sky with one go."

Callum stared at Morgan, wide-eyed.

"Did… wow!"

He smiled.

"She's something."

"You know, you're also quite popular with a lot of my female friends. Let's just say you're making a few boyfriends jealous," Callum added.

Morgan laughed at the thought. Him of all people. That was funny.

"You can go home and assure your friends that I'm already spoken for."

"I doubt that will deter them," Callum said with a smirk.

* * *

"Your x-rays are good, right?" Jess asked Morgan as she gently pushed his messy hair out of his face.

It was now two weeks in the hospital. One more week and Morgan would hopefully be out of there. As it was looking, he was on track to be home by the end of next week. His lung was healing nicely and he had managed to escape without any permanently debilitating injuries. Morgan was almost tempted to say he "dodged a bullet." The irony would not be lost on anyone.

"Yes, babe. You talked to the doctor earlier. I'll be out of here next week."

Jess frowned.

"I don't trust him."

Morgan laughed.

"You don't trust him? Why not? I don't see you with a medical degree."

"Yeah, well, I don't need some fuckin' degree. My granny taught me all the shit these people know and I can do it just as well. While getting shot at too."

"Whatever you say, honey," Morgan said with a smile.

Jess rolled her eyes.

"Look, I just want these guys to get you out of here as fast as possible. I need to get laid."

"How do you think I feel?" he asked.

"Pretty bad. I assume."

"Well, you can at least remedy your issues. Just go to the Spread Eagle, eye up some guy, and there you have it," Morgan said jokingly.

Jess lightly punched him.

"Asshole. You have no faith in me, do you?" she said, smirking.

"Just enough."

Jess leaned over and kissed him once.

"That's all I need," she whispered before leaning over and kissing him once more. Morgan enthusiastically reciprocated, wrapping his arms around Jess to pull her in closer. They made out for several seconds before a knock at the door caused them both to jump apart.

Anne-Marie stood at the threshold, smiling awkwardly and holding onto Morgan's medications

"Uh, sorry… am I interrupting?" she said with a giggle.

Jess smirked at her and looked down at Morgan, who shrugged and smiled.

"I guess I'll get going. Later, babe," she announced, gathering up her things and leaving Morgan, but not before blowing him a kiss as she exited.

"Sorry about that, deputy!" Anne-Marie said as she poured Morgan some water.

"It's no problem. She's been here for the past two hours. I wanted her to go home and enjoy the day instead of spending it all in the hospital."

"Well, I would say you're very lucky to have someone that dedicated to you, deputy."

He smiled.

"I most certainly am."

"She seems very nice."

Morgan chuckled.

"I'm glad you get that impression."

"I consider myself pretty good at reading people, sweetheart."

"She's not much of a people person. That I'll admit. But, I think you could get through to even her, Anne-Marie."

His nurse smiled and giggled her girlish giggle.

"Aw, thanks, deputy!" she said with one of her sweet smiles.

"Whatever gets me out of here faster."

She smiled and turned to exit the room.

"I'll see what I can do."

* * *

"Thank you," Callum said to a doctor who held open the front door of St. Patrick's Hospital.

The young man pushed Morgan out of the hospital in a wheelchair. The deputy had a plastic bag full of his belongings resting on his lap and his Browning pistol holstered at his hip, reunited at last. He could walk just fine, but hospital policy dictated that people needed to be transported out of the premises via wheelchair, lest they try to walk out, fall flat on their face, and attempt to blame the hospital for it.

"And… here we are," Callum announced to Morgan as they reached end of the wheelchair ramp. Callum locked the wheelchair in place and Morgan got up, taking his bag with him.

"Well, I hope you feel better, deputy," Callum said.

Morgan smiled and extended his hand to the transporter.

"Thanks for getting me places without dropping me. I appreciate that."

Callum firmly shook his hand and smiled.

"It was my pleasure, sir. I hope you don't have to come back here."

Morgan clapped Callum's shoulder and nodded.

"You and me both, brother. Take care."

Morgan turned on his heels away from the hospital, throwing his belongings over his shoulder while Callum turned and pushed his wheelchair back inside.

On the nearby street, Mary had arrived in her F-150 to drive Morgan home. Jess had accompanied her, of course.

"Morgan!" Mary cried as she jogged forward and hugged him tightly.

"Ow… hey… nice to see you too," Morgan said through a grimace.

"Ooh… sorry!" Mary apologized before quickly letting go of him.

"It's okay. Love hurts, after all," Morgan said.

Mary rolled her eyes.

"Glad to see your sense of humor is intact."

"Hey, it's very important it remains in one piece. That's why she loves me so much," he said, nodding at Jess, who smirked back.

She strode over and kissed him once.

"Keep telling yourself that."

He grinned wryly.

"Well, aren't you glad to see me."

She ran a hand down his cheek and smiled before leaning close to him.

"More than you'd imagine," she whispered.

Jess turned to Mary after releasing him.

"Alright, I have my man. Let's get out of this shithole. There's too many people."

"Jesus, Jess," Mary said as they mounted up, "if you think this place is crowded, you should try going to Times Square in New York City."

She laughed.

"Oh, fuck that. No thank you."

"I'm with Jess. Missoula is about cosmopolitan as I'd like to get," Morgan commented.

"That's why we get along," Jess said.

"Great minds think alike, right?" Mary said as she made a turn towards the highway.

* * *

The conversation in the truck on the way home was mostly geared towards Morgan's condition and recovery. Mary was concerned about how long he would be out of action, if he could get back to police work at all. Morgan assured her this brush with death would not force an early retirement. Jess outwardly appeared to be keeping it cool. But Morgan could tell she had concerns of her own. She was just a master of making sure her emotions were in check. In public anyway.

"And your lung? You said the doctors had to re-inflate it? Wouldn't that like… slow you down a lot?" Mary inquired.

"For now. But the doctors assured me it's healing nicely. I should be back to hiking and running after meth dealers a month from now. Plus, Judy, my very nice respiratory therapist, gave me some breathing exercises I can do to make sure it heals faster," Morgan explained.

He took several deep breaths and exhaled slowly to demonstrate.

"See?"

Jess chuckled.

"Great. So, I'm just going to be hearing you breathing loudly all hours of the night."

"You'll get used to it."

Jess exhaled and looked out the window at the houses they passed.

"I better. Otherwise… you're out."

"Are you hearing this, Mary?" Morgan asked her in mock disgust.

She eyed him in the rearview mirror.

"The upstairs room is still vacant, Morgan. Just in case."

* * *

There were plenty of people waiting for Morgan to return. Half the town had come out in front of the Spread Eagle to greet him. This fact caused him to rub the bridge of his nose and groan.

"Dammit. I just wanted to get home and lay down."

Mary shrugged.

"This is what happens when you decide to be a badass action hero who almost singlehandedly saved the county."

"Oh, come on! I helped!" Jess piped up.

"That's why I said 'almost singlehandedly.'"

"Damn right. Give me my credit, girl," Jess laughed as the three of them exited Mary's truck.

Morgan was immediately met with a chorus of shouts and congratulations. Many well-wishers crowded around Morgan, all of whom were warded off by Jess, angrily telling them to give him space.

Sheriff Whitehorse smiled under his signature handlebar mustache at his deputy.

"Welcome back, son," he said proudly as he clapped Morgan on the shoulder.

"Good to be back," Morgan said.

Hudson, Pratt, Grace, Hurk, and the rest of the Sheriff's Department were also on hand. They all hugged, shook hands with, back-slapped, and generally offered Morgan their compliments on his recovery and relief he was back.

Grace was the last one he faced. She was smiling softly and shook her head.

"Goddamn, Rook. I… shit," she mumbled.

"What?" Morgan asked.

"I'm sorry," she said to him quietly before gently hugging him.

"But… why?"

"I should've made sure that guy-"

"Oh, stop it," Morgan warned, "that wasn't your fault. At all. Don't you  _dare_  try to worry about it. Alright?"

Grace sighed.

"It's just…"

"Alright?" Morgan repeated.

Grace exhaled sharply and let go of him.

"Fine. It's good to have you back, Morgan."

"I just want to get back to it. I was bored sitting around in the hospital."

"Speaking of," Whitehorse began, "you can take off as long as you need, Rook. I know you need some time to rest up. You come back when you're ready, alright?"

"Don't worry, sheriff. I'm coming back the moment I feel up to it."

"No, son, I want you to rest and recover and do whatever you need to do. Just because you may feel up to it, doesn't mean your body will be. You rest. You recover  _fully_. Then you come back. Got it?"

Morgan sighed, but nodded, defeated.

"Yes, sheriff."

"Good man."

"Alright, folks. Let's give Morgan his space. I think he would appreciate going back home and resting in his own bed," Whitehorse told the assembled crowd, who obeyed his instruction and dispersed.

Jess took Morgan by the hand and led him back home. Morgan smiled as he watched the back of her head with her leading the way.

It felt good to be home.

* * *

After they ate a meal Jess prepared while repeatedly telling Morgan to "sit down, shut the fuck up, and let me fucking cook for you," Morgan went to go and take a shower. The stay in the hospital gave him a new appreciation for the simple comforts of showering in his own home. He had been unable to take a shower every single day in the hospital, something that contributed to him feeling quite gross for much of his stay.

Morgan had his eyes closed as he lathered some shampoo in his hair. That was another thing he had missed- shampoo. Jess liked his hair so much and he needed to keep it nice. As he was relaxing under the hot water, a hand slammed into the glass door.

"Jesus Christ!" Morgan exclaimed as he jumped in surprise.

Jess laughed and slightly opened the door so she could poke her head in.

"Who did you think it was?" she asked.

"I dunno. A very sneaky Peggie that managed to avoid the National Guard?" he suggested.

Jess snorted.

"Come on. If someone managed to actually break into this place, I would've killed them a while ago," she said matter-of-factly.

She pushed the door open a bit more.

"So, now that you're reassured, can I come in?"

Morgan looked her up and down. She was already naked and was obviously not going to take "no" for an answer. Not that Morgan was inclined to refuse her offer.

"Do you even have to ask?" he said.

"Oh, just making sure you're okay with this," she assured him before stepping inside. Morgan took a few steps back to make room for her.

Noticing the lather in his hair, Jess reached up and worked her fingers through his wet hair, just the way Morgan liked it. She scratched his scalp lightly, sending a familiar chill down his spine.

"I missed this," he mumbled, eyes closed.

"Oh, no one jumped in the shower with you?" she asked, chuckling.

"Oh, God, I hoped no one would."

She laughed.

"Good."

Jess worked her hands down his solid chest, settling a finger on the circular scar on the upper left side of his chest where the 9mm round had exited. Another hand traced the large surgical scar on his chest where he had been opened up.

"Look. I have scars too. Maybe I can be badass like you one day," Morgan joked.

"Keep dreaming, babe," Jess said quietly before leaning up to softly kiss him.

Jess and Morgan typically exchanged two kinds of kisses. Hungry, passionate ones where the two lovers overwhelmed each other's senses. Those were exchanged after both  _really_  missed each other and just needed to feel the other in that moment. The other kind were soft, gentle, and came packed with emotions behind them. They exchanged those during times when the feelings were running high, when plenty of "I love yous" were exchanged. Times when both of them were caught up in just how much the other person meant to them.

This kiss was a combination of both of those. They had missed each other dearly in the past few weeks. Sure, Jess came to visit nearly every day, but that was not enough. Both wanted nothing more than to just fall asleep next to each other and wake up next to each other. Now they were reunited and it was time to show how much they missed each other. But, it was also a show of their mutual love and commitment to each other. They had faced this one last obstacle and for Morgan at least, he had decided that the only thing he wanted was to commit to her for the rest of his life. Be Morgan and Jess Rook.

He pushed her against the wall of the shower, working his hands behind her neck and into her hair. Water from the showerhead splashed over them, causing Morgan to suddenly stop and clear water from his eyes. They both laughed and repositioned themselves to a less splash-susceptible location.

"God. Our water bill is gonna be so high this month," Morgan commented.

"That's okay. We're actually saving water because there's two people taking one shower. Not two separate ones," Jess said, smiling against his lips.

"Well, aren't you environmentally conscious?"

"Oh, yeah, babe. Totally. Fucking global warming."

"Next house will have a big shower, okay?" Morgan said.

"Sounds good."

She pulled his body into hers so he was pressed up right against her.

"Now shut up and kiss me."

* * *

"I'm going to assume…"

"Yeah…"

"No sex?" Jess sighed as they lay in bed together.

"Based on how you like it, I might end up back in the hospital after partaking in some… strenuous physical activity," Morgan explained.

"Shit. I was looking forward to that," Jess said, sounding genuinely disappointed.

"Yeah… me too. Look, just give me a week and I should be good-"

"A  _week_? Another week?" she blurted.

"Goddamn, Morgan. I might have to go down to the Spread Eagle after all."

"We can cuddle," he suggested.

"Yeah, sure, that's the same thing," she snarked back.

Despite that comment, she scooted closer to him, grabbing his arm and draping it around her.

"I'll take it though," Jess said, settling against him. She fit perfectly against his frame.

"I'll take it too," he said quietly, kissing the back of her neck.

"Does this beat a hospital bed?"

"Yep. I was by myself in my room, but right down the hall, this old guy kept screaming randomly. He liked to do it at two in the morning, too."

"That just sounds fuckin' lovely."

"It was. I think I prefer this a lot more."

"Me too. For some reason."

Morgan chuckled.

"Wow, Jess. My favorite badass master huntress is going soft on me."

"Hey, fuck you. I'm just… more…"

"Sensitive?"

"No! No. That's not a cool word. I'm not 'sensitive.'"

Morgan smiled as he buried his face in her hair.

"Did you cry when I got shot."

"Uh…"

"Did youuuu?"

"Maybe a little."

"Oh, just a little? I'm offended. I thought me dying was up there on the list of things that concern you."

"Well, it is."

"How high is it on the list?"

"Pretty high."

"But not the highest?"

"It's pretty high! The list isn't in any particular order."

"God, Jess. I'm seriously hurt right now. You dying is on the top of  _my_  list."

She sat up, laughing and lay her head on his pillow.

"You're such an asshole," she said, grinning, "I'd punch you, but you're injured. So, I won't."

"You love me."

"I do," she relented before leaning down to give him a quick kiss.

She settled back down, snuggling against him.

"I'm really glad you're back."

"I'm glad I'm back," Morgan said.

* * *

Several minutes later, Jess was asleep. Morgan was awake, staring at her naked back.

 _I want to wake up next to you every day_ , he suddenly thought.

Morgan knew he  _had_ to ask Jess to be his wife. He had to. This relationship… this was not something he could ever let go. Dare he say it- he found "the one." All it took was a doomsday cult to take over his home.

 _I need a ring_. It was quite necessary.

He shot a glance back over at her.

 _Maybe tomorrow_.

* * *

"Okay, what are you gonna do?"

Morgan looked up at Jess standing at the door to their bedroom, dressed in her full hunting gear.

"Well, according to you, stay here, don't fuck myself up."

"Right. I'm going to be gone for a couple hours at least. Some lady in the Whitetails wants to pay me a couple hundred bucks to take care of the cougar that ate her dog."

"So… don't move. Don't exert yourself, because you ain't going back to the fucking hospital. Got it?"

Morgan freed his hand from under the bed sheets and gave a thumbs up.

"Got it."

"Okay. Call me if you need anything."

"I have friends in town, you know."

She rolled her eyes, smirking.

"Whatever. Just don't do anything stupid. Bye, babe."

"Bye. Have fun."

Morgan leaned back down onto his pillow and heard the front door close. He gave her twenty minutes to walk out of town before he got up and changed out of his sweatpants and t-shirt into jeans, a button-down, and boots. He gathered up his things and walked out of their home to the driveway, where his Firebird was waiting.

With a pleased expression, Morgan slipped into the driver's seat of his car.

"I missed you too," he mumbled as the V8 engine roared to life.

* * *

Morgan felt out of his element in the Missoula jewelry store. An attractive young blonde woman was pointing Morgan around the store from one expensive, flashy ring to another.

"Now, this is one of my favorites," the blonde said, whose nametag identified her as Cara.

"Which one?" Morgan asked, straining to look into the display case full of same-y looking white diamond rings.

"This," Cara pointed to a ring that had a large diamond set in a square of smaller diamonds.

"Oh, it's uh… nice," Morgan lied.

"Oh, it is  _very_  nice," Cara said, not catching Morgan's hesitant remark.

She picked up the ring out of the case and showed it to Morgan. He took it between his fingers and examined it and felt it looked like the other five rings he had seen. He just could not see Jess putting any of these painfully expensive, garish monstrosities on her finger.

"The center stone is a half-carat, princess cut diamond. It's been rated at very high luminosity and will surely make her the center of attention."

 _The exact opposite of what Jess wants to be_ , Morgan thought to himself.

"It starts at four thousand dollars. We do have a number of financing options available, so don't worry about that," Cara said, as if somehow that would make the exorbitant price tag somewhat less ridiculous.

Morgan nodded slowly, handing the ring back to Cara.

"I'll, uh, think about that one. Can we look at something that's under… two thousand dollars?"

Cara smiled.

"Of course, sir. Right this way."

She led him towards the back of the store and immediately picked up a silver ring with a teardrop shaped diamond at the center.

"Now, this one is a less… fancy version of the first one I showed you-"

Morgan looked over at the next case, where one ring caught his eye.

"Um, sorry, can you tell me about this one?"

Cara walked over and looked at what he was pointing at. It was a simple, silver ring composed of a polished metal with nothing else inlaid on top of it.

"Oh, this? That's a tungsten carbide ring. It's this kind of super strong metal. One of the hardest substances on Earth or something like that."

"Really?" Morgan asked, intrigued.

"Here, want to see?"

"Yes, please."

Morgan turned over the shiny silver ring in his fingers. Simple. He liked simple. And so would Jess.

"How much?"

"That one is sixty dollars."

"Wow."

"I mean, it's a very cool metal. Won't break, bend, or scratch. But it's not really the traditional sort of thing."

Morgan shrugged.

"So?"

"It's just… you know what they say- diamonds are a girl's best friend, right?" Cara said, flashing a smile that said "please buy something more expensive."

"Please don't take this personally or anything, but I think I know my girlfriend," Morgan told her.

Defeated, Cara nodded.

"Would you like two?"

Morgan smiled.

"Yes, please."

* * *

"You look like you've got something on your mind."

Morgan looked up at Mary, who was leaning on the bar counter and smirking.

"Most people who come to a bar at two in the afternoon typically do," he replied.

"In my experience that's the case. Okay, I'm going to take three guesses as to what's on your mind."

Morgan lightly tapped the bottom of his beer bottle on the bar counter.

"Go right ahead."

"Okay… so it begins with a J."

"Man, you know me so well."

Mary chuckled.

"Trouble in paradise?" she asked.

"Far from it. Actually… it's because I got this today," Morgan started before reaching into his pocket and displaying the ring he had bought.

Mary's eyes lit up and she leaned back, surprised. A large smile appeared on her face.

"Morgan!" she cried excitedly.

He smiled and nodded.

"It's happening."

"When?"

He pointed at his injured chest.

"Well, it's a bit reliant on me being able to walk more than a few hundred yards without my lung collapsing. So, maybe in a month."

Mary smiled.

"Oh, look at you. Got it all planned out."

"You know me, I like to plan things ahead."

Mary sighed.

"But it's gonna be a month! I have to wait a month to see this happen!"

"How do you think I feel?"

"Like you're just waiting for the inevitable reply."

Morgan rolled his eyes and leaned back.

"And what is the 'inevitable reply?'"

"In the words of a certain very dead asshole…"

"Oh, God," Morgan mumbled, knowing what was coming next.

Mary pumped her fists in the air.

"Yes! YES!" she said loudly. A few patrons looked at her, amused.

"Go back to your lunch," she ordered them.

"Yes, mayor," one of her customers said with a chuckle.

"Anyway, what makes you so sure Jess will take good old Johnny Seed's words to heart?" Morgan quizzed as she turned back to him.

"Come on," she scoffed.

"What?"

"She fucking loves you. She's probably just waiting for you to go and do it."

"Yeah, well, I love her too. But what if something happens?"

"Like what? What could  _possibly_  happen?"

He shrugged.

"Don't know. I get shot again, except this time they actually do some damage. I get a brain aneurysm. Maybe we'll get into a big fight over some stupid shit and she'll kick me out. A lot can happen."

Mary laughed.

"I'm serious!" Morgan whined.

"And I'm serious when I say you need to stop worrying about stupid shit that won't happen."

"These are legitimate concerns!"

"All you need to concern yourself with is getting that ring on her finger. And then having the best wedding this place has ever seen."

"I don't know about 'ever'… Hope County's been around for a while."

"Okay, fine," she conceded, "best wedding in years."

"Alright. I'll take that."

"You fuckin' better."

Morgan raised his bottle and chugged down the last drops in it.

"Okay, I need to get out of here. Jess will be coming home soon and I need to make sure she doesn't yell at me."

Mary chuckled.

"Alright, Morgan. Get out of here. Spend some time with your woman instead of hanging out at a bar."

"Probably should," Morgan said with a grin before getting up to leave.

* * *

Jess shoved open the door to her home, her hunting jacket covered in blood. Morgan looked up from where he was laying on the couch.

"Jesus!" he shouted as he jumped up to help her.

Jess put up a hand and unzipped her jacket.

"Hey, babe. Don't worry. It's not mine."

Morgan paused and lowered his hands.

"It's not?"

"Nope. It belongs to one very pissed off mountain lion. One very dead mountain lion, I must add."

"Are… are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay? Did you take your meds?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She smirked.

"Good. Good."

Reaching into her jacket, Jess pulled out a white envelope and withdrew a collection consisting of a few hundreds and some twenty-dollar bills.

"Five hundred bucks for one kill. God, these people… I can probably ask for more next time."

"Look at you. Putting those hunting skills to good use."

She rolled her eyes.

"As if I haven't done enough of that already."

"Yes, you've killed lots of things already. But this is the first time you've been getting some cash for doing so."

She shrugged.

"Just trying to help keep the lights on."

Jess kicked off her boots and put them in a corner by the door. She shed her bloody jacket and threw it into the washing machine down the hall. Finally, she went over to Morgan and motioned for him to scoot over so she could join him on the couch.

She snuggled up to his frame and rested her head on his shoulder. Morgan responded by putting an arm around her.

"I wish you were out there with me," she said

"I wish I was out there with you. Believe me. Sitting around all day just doesn't do it for me."

He kissed her on the top of her head.

"Unless you're with me," he added.

"You're so fucking sweet. You know that?" Jess told him.

He smirked.

"I have been told, my love."

She giggled at that.

"Well… what did you do today, babe?"

"Oh, nothing," he lied, "I finished that book, finally."

"Which one is that again?"

" _Bush War in Bowa-Seko_. It's the memoirs of a mercenary that fought in this civil war in a small African nation back in 2008. I heard it's gonna get turned into a video game or something."

"Video games are fucking stupid," she mumbled.

"Hey, you like playing  _Call of Duty_  with me!" he said.

"Yeah, but…"

Morgan's phone rung, causing them both to jump. Nick's name flashed on the caller ID.

"Hello?" Morgan said as he answered the phone.

" _Hey my man! Kim wants you and Jess over for dinner in celebration of you getting out of the hospital. You game?_ "

Jess, who was listening in, answered for them.

"Fuck yeah we're game!" she said into the phone.

They heard Nick and Kim laugh on the other end.

" _How does six sound?_ " Kim asked.

"Six sounds great," Morgan confirmed.

* * *

"Shit, you made this? Yourself?" Jess asked as she reached over to pile more of Kim's homemade sushi on her plate.

"Of course I did. There's no sushi places around here, so I gotta make do."

"Unless you count gas station sushi, of course," Nick added.

"Been there," Jess said, "never again."

They laughed at the thought.

"It wasn't funny!" she insisted. "It's probably the closest I've ever come to dying."

"I take it this is better?" Morgan asked.

"So much better," Jess said before shoving a California roll into her mouth.

The conversation inevitably drifted to Morgan's condition. He assured them he would be fine. It was true, after all. He just needed a bit of time to recover.

"Listen, man, you know if you need anything, I'll be there," Nick said.

"Yeah! Me too!" Kim affirmed.

Baby Nicole giggled in her high chair.

"Nikki will help too," Kim added.

Morgan smiled.

"Well, thanks, goddaughter," he said to the little girl, who laughed and cooed in reply.

"He's got me. I'm here to make sure he takes his goddamn meds and doesn't do anything stupid. Isn't that right, babe?"

Morgan nodded slowly.

"Yes, dear," he said sarcastically.

* * *

As was usual when they hung out, Morgan and Nick went out on the porch to have some beers while Jess and Kim stayed inside to talk about whatever the two women talked about while their significant others had their man-to-man time.

"Has it been a year since you guys got together?" Nick asked.

Morgan nodded, rocking his chair back.

"Yeah, man. A little over a year now."

"Goddamn. Has it been a year since we stopped those assholes?" Nick said, sounding bewildered.

"Sure has gone fast."

"You're telling me. A year ago, I was fighting to make sure my daughter wouldn't be calling Joseph her father. Now… look at this place. It's all changed. For the better."

"Yeah. It really has," Morgan agreed. Indeed, the cult felt like a distant memory now. The organization that everyone feared was just a note for the history books.

"It's amazing you managed to meet the girl of your dreams fighting some maniacs in the woods," Nick said.

Morgan laughed.

"Not your typical love story, I'll say that. Wouldn't want it any other way, though."

"I bet!"

Morgan looked over his shoulder to make sure Jess and Kim were not within earshot.

"So… you know how I said I didn't do anything today?"

"Yeah…?"

"I lied. I picked up a ring for Jess."

"A ring? Like…?"

"Yep. Obviously, I couldn't mention that at dinner."

"Shit, man I get it. When you proposing?"

"As soon as I get cleared to go and do some hiking. I got it all planned out."

Nick smiled and leaned back.

"I'm proud of you, brother. Everyone's gonna be happy when you finally get it done."

Morgan chuckled lightly.

"I will be too. Look… don't mention this to Kim, please? Don't take this the wrong way- I trust Kim and I know she wouldn't intentionally let Jess know. But your girl… she's a bit chatty."

Nick laughed.

"No, man, I get you. Jess and Kim hang out enough. She would probably be unable to contain herself. Aw, man. She's gonna be so happy when she hears the news. Send us your wedding registry!"

Morgan laughed.

"Why does everyone in this fucking county already hearing wedding bells? Let's take this one step at a time."

"Maybe because everyone thinks you guys are so fucking cute? Because you  _are_."

"We are. I'll give them that."

"Most couples fade out of their 'honeymoon' period by this time. I would say so anyway. But… man… you guys are just made for each other."

"I like to think so."

Nick held up his beer bottle.

"I wish you best of luck, my friend. Let me know if you need anything. My offer to skywrite is still open."

Morgan bought up his own bottle and clinked it with Nick's.

"We'll see. I will probably put you in charge of barbecue if this all works out."

Nick smiled.

"Now that is something I can do."

* * *

Later that night, Morgan was putting away leftovers while Jess stripped out of her outfit from earlier that night.

"We need to do that more often," Jess said.

Morgan nodded.

"Kim is an amazing cook."

"Better than me?" she asked.

Morgan paused.

"Well…"

Jess smiled mischievously.

"I'd weigh your next words  _very_  carefully."

"You're both great cooks and I'll take anything made by you or Kim any day," Morgan said, adding a sweet smile.

Jess giggled.

"Good save."

"I try."

With a sigh, Morgan flopped on the couch. Jess joined him.

"You wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure thing."

Morgan picked up the controller to their PlayStation, intending to find something on Netflix.

"I still can't get over the fact I have a goddaughter," he commented.

Jess laughed.

"They saw something in you, obviously."

"Don't ask me what."

"Oh, shut up. You're wonderful."

He chuckled.

"If you say so."

There was a long pause. Jess looked over at Morgan, who looked like he wanted to say something.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, uh, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

Morgan pursed his lips.

"Well… do you want kids?"

Jess was surprised by this sudden question.

"I… why do you ask?"

"It's just that we've been together for a while now. And you know, people who are in relationships need to think about these things."

Jess was quiet for a few moments before nodding.

"I get you. Let me ask: do  _you_  want children?"

"I don't know," he said, "do you?"

"I'm asking you, Morgan. What do you think?"

"I… no, I don't think I do."

"Well, me neither. So there."

"But…"

"But what?"

"It's… I don't know. At the age we're at it's just something people think about a lot. And it's kind of… normal, I guess?"

Jess laughed. Morgan was not expecting her to do so.

"What's so funny?" he inquired.

"Morgan, no one says we  _need_  to have kids. I don't want kids because I don't want to be pregnant. It seems pretty fucking awful."

"I mean, it does…"

"I know what you're thinking."

"What am I thinking?"

"That we might  _need_  to have children to be… legitimate as a family or something."

"That's…"

"Morgan, babe, listen…" she said gently.

Jess gathered up his hands and folded them into her own.

"We are a family. You and I. We don't need someone else to tell us what a family is."

He could only nod.

"I want to enjoy our life together. This is gonna sound shallow as fuck and I really don't care. I want to be selfish. I want to enjoy me and you doing our shit and not having to worry about anything else," Jess went on.

She pressed his hands against her chest and held them tightly.

"Me and you- that's how it was meant to be. Let's enjoy the life we're making, together. Okay?"

Morgan nodded once, feeling like a major burden had been alleviated.

"Okay?" Jess asked again, low and close to his face.

"Okay."

She gave him a quick kiss before snuggling against him.

Morgan knew she was right.

Him and Jess. That was how it was meant to go. They were a family. And that was that.

* * *

By late July, Morgan had seen his doctor and was informed he was healing nicely. His condition had improved to the point where he had been cleared to return to work on a modified schedule and partake in the physical activities he loved to do. Perfect timing since the weather had fully committed to being summer.

On the morning of July 25th, Morgan approached Jess after breakfast and asked what he had wanted to ask for quite a bit.

"Let's go for a hike."

"Where?" she had asked.

"You remember back last August? We hiked up that old logging trail you showed me and got this vista of the whole county?"

"How could I forget?"

"Exactly. That place was gorgeous. Let's go back."

And so, they grabbed a day pack each and set out, Morgan tearing down the empty county roads in his Firebird up towards the Whitetails. At one point, Morgan glanced over to see Jess looking out at the early morning sun, the wind blowing her hair back. She was smiling. For no particular reason. She was just smiling. The idea of that made Morgan smile as well.

A few hours later, the pair trekked the route Jess had found just as they had a year earlier. The trail was not marked on any official maps. It was just one of those places Jess knew about. She had many.

"Are we there yet?" he asked.

"Why? Are you bored?" she said with a smirk.

"What? No, of course not. It just seems a bit longer this time around."

"Well then. We're like… ten minutes from the summit. Can you hang on until then?"

"Yeah."

Jess paused, looking concerned.

"You're not hurting, are you?"

"What, my chest? No, I'm fine. Let's do this!"

She looked at him, trying to figure out if he was lying.

"Come on!" Morgan implored.

She just smiled and shook her head before moving on.

"Whatever you say," Jess said.

In reality, Morgan had inquired because there was a ring burning a massive hole in his pocket. He had been unable to enjoy the gorgeous scenery because for the past hour, all he could think about was:

_How am I going to do this?_

Well, the basic setup was pretty much written out for him.

Get down on one knee. Withdraw the ring (don't drop it). Say "will you marry me?"

It was the finer details that vexed him.

What would her reaction be?

What if she said no?

That was the real problem. Morgan gave thought to putting it off, try another day when he felt better. But, he decided now was the time. If he put this off now… he would never get it done.

He figured that the right thing to do will just come to him. It always did.

"Morgan? Hello… you with me?"

Morgan blinked and looked at Jess, who was staring back at him, bemused.

"You just kinda… blanked out on me there."

"Did I?"

"Yeah. I was telling you- here we are."

Morgan walked up to join her at looking out at the vista that gave a fantastic view of all of Hope County. He could see far and wide- from the various fish filled lakes to the mountains in the distance that surrounded the county. Straining, he could even see Fall's End out in the distance.

"God. I love this view," Jess commented next to him.

Morgan nodded.

"Me too. It's even better with you."

She giggled and lightly pushed him.

"Oh, shut up. You're gonna make me blush."

"That's the idea."

"I have appearances to make up, babe. Gotta have people thinking I'm the hard-ass huntress who definitely doesn't get all flustered and shit when her boyfriend is cute as fuck."

"Okay, then. I'll try to make sure not to ruin that image."

"Appreciate that," Jess said with a chuckle.

They sat down together on a fallen log, looking out at the beautiful view before them.

"Can you believe it's been over a year since everything?" Morgan asked.

Jess nodded.

"Time flies."

"Time flies when you're having fun," Morgan added.

She laughed.

"Oh, yeah. It's been a fun year and a bit."

"I try to keep you entertained."

"You succeed. For the most part."

Morgan stuck a hand in his pocket and felt the cool metal of her tungsten ring.

Jess got up.

"Well, let's get back down and maybe we can eat some lunch at Mary's," she suggested.

"Yeah… sounds good. But… wait a second."

Jess paused.

"What's up?"

"I've been thinking a lot lately," he began.

"As you've been known to do," she chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess I do, right? Anyway, I've just been thinking about everything that happened with the cult and whatnot- it allowed me to meet you, someone I wouldn't have met otherwise."

Jess laughed.

"We can thank the fuckers for that at least. They did something good."

"And I've had time to think about it and I can definitely say you're the one," Morgan said resolutely.

Jess looked confused for a moment.

"What do you mean 'the one?' The one to do what?" she asked.

"Which is why I need to ask…" Morgan started.

Before Jess could reply, Morgan bent down onto one knee, withdrawing the silver metal ring from his side pocket. Jess looked at him, eyes wide, too stunned to react.

"Jess Black, will you marry me?"

Jess's mouth fell open, causing her to cover it with both her hands. She laughed once, twice. Morgan was concerned for the briefest moment before she dropped her hands to reveal a wide smile. He could see tears glistening in her eyes.

"Yes," Jess finally said, "yes. Fuck yes!"

Morgan's stomach did a somersault.

_She said yes!_

He slowly got up, facing Jess, who was laughing in joy.

"Jess…" he managed to say.

Jess responded by throwing her arms around him and kissing him. Morgan replied by putting his own arms around her, kissing her back with everything he had.

They broke apart, their faces just a few inches apart.

"Put that thing on my finger!" she eagerly instructed him.

Morgan held up her left hand and slipped the ring over her ring finger. Jess looked down and laughed.

"I… I love it," she commented.

"I knew you would," he replied.

Jess looked up at him.

"And I love you," she said.

Morgan could not even speak in the moment. He was just so damn happy.

"God. I fucking love you," he managed to say.

Jess replied by leaning up to kiss him again. After a minute or so, she slowly broke away from him.

"Let's get back to town," she suggested, "there's lots of people who are waiting to hear about this."

Morgan smiled in reply before gathering up his bag. Hand in hand, they walked off the mountain and back to the people who were rooting for them.

* * *

There had been a lot of talk the rest of that day. Many people had lots to say to them.

When Morgan and Jess finally got a chance to retreat back home, it was fairly late. The long day had sapped them of most of their energy.

Morgan had emerged from the bathroom, wearing just the shorts he intended to wear to bed. He found the room was lit by candles of all things. Morgan found Jess squatting over some candles, mumbling curses to herself as she tried to get her lighter to spark.

"Jess? What are you doing?" he asked.

She stood up, throwing her lighter onto the dresser.

"Well… I thought I could set the mood."

"The mood?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, look! Candles! Candles are like… romantic as fuck."

Morgan laughed.

"Wow. Can't believe Jess Black of all people would want to have candles lit around her bed."

She stood up, coming close to him and resting her hands on his shoulders.

"You've taught me to be a romantic sap like you are," she whispered.

"Oh, have I?" he asked.

Jess pressed an index finger to his lips.

"Don't talk. Come here."

Jess hauled him over to the bed and pushed him onto his back. Morgan eagerly positioned himself as Jess climbed atop him.

"I can't wait to be married to you," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Definitely," she purred.

Jess leaned down to kiss Morgan, who offered no resistance.

"I want you," he mumbled.

"Forever?" she asked, as if she did not know the answer.

"Forever," Morgan confirmed.

Jess leaned down and kissed his neck. Morgan worked a hand through her soft hair, sighing at the feeling of her hot breath down his neck and chest.

"Forever sounds pretty good," he whispered to her.

Jess came back up, smiling down at him. She gently caressed his cheek before kissing him softly.

"We'll make the most of it," Jess told him.

* * *

Over the next several days, posters began to appear around Fall's End and Hope County. They were all posted places a passerby could see them clearly. Each read the same thing:

_You're invited to the wedding of Morgan Rook and Jess Black!_

_Friday, August 2_ _nd_ _, 12:00 PM. Fall's End Catholic Church._

_Reception to follow._

_Wear whatever you want. Please bring food for the reception._

_We'll see you there!_

_M+J_


	12. Life as it Should Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're reaching the end of this story! Not the very end- stay tuned for the two, yes, TWO epilogues that will be coming after this chapter. Thanks for your continued support and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> You can also now find me on Tumblr: https://hope-countys-finest.tumblr.com

The early August day was one blessed by sunny skies lacking anything resembling clouds. The usually quiet streets of Fall's End who were especially quiet today as the entire population of the town, along with numerous others from around Hope County, packed into the quaint Fall's End Catholic Church.

Only such an event could cause that many people to stuff themselves into the local church- a wedding. And it was a special one at that.

A few weeks ago, Deputy Morgan Rook and Jess Black came down from the Whitetail Mountains and announced that they were engaged.

Really, it should not have come as a shock to anyone. It was only a matter of time. But hearing the news was enough cause for celebration. Of course, plenty of people had suggestions for them, but the couple just wanted a simple affair, something they would not be paying for years later. Morgan and especially Jess were not ones for large, showy displays. They wanted something memorable in its simplicity.

When the time came to send out invitations, Morgan quickly lost track of all the people he wanted to invite. So, they decided to make it open invitation. While many other couples may have balked at such an idea, this was Hope County, a place where everyone had grown closer over the past year together, whether they wanted to or not.

On the day of the wedding, the small church quickly became crowded. The few available pews were taken by those who came first and it quickly became standing room only. By the time it approached noon, people were crowding around in the very back of the church.

The very first row of pews were reserved for close friends and family. Here sat Mary, Grace, Nick, Kim, Nicole (who was very well behaved), Dutch, Hurk, Sharky, Adelaide, Whitehorse, Pratt, and Hudson. Boomer was present too, sitting patiently at the end of the row next to Mary. He would be getting a treat later for that.

Peaches the cougar wandered in, seemingly sensing that something interesting was happening in the church. She briefly shocked some of the guests with her sudden appearance but decided to settle in a corner of the church and watch what was going on.

Wade Fowler arrived in Fall's End from the F.A.N.G. Center with Cheeseburger the bear in the back of his truck. When asked why he bought a grizzly bear to a wedding, he replied "I just saw Cheeseburger staring at one of those posters the deputy and his girl put up around the county. Figured he wanted to come!"

No one could argue with that.

When the clock struck twelve, close to eighty people had fit themselves inside the church. Excited conversation and laughter rippled throughout the humble building as people from across the entire county chatted. The mood was joyful, uplifting. There had not been a wedding for a very long time.

Soon, the people crowded inside the church became aware of the new faces entering. The church quickly erupted into cheers and exclamations of congratulations.

Jess Black and Morgan Rook both stood at the open doorway, taking a moment to marvel at the amount of people who showed up.

"Whoa," Morgan whispered to his soon to be wife.

Jess smiled and looked up at him.

"Didn't realize this many people gave a shit about us," she whispered back.

As people around them clapped and offered their congratulations, Jess slipped her hand into his.

"Let's not keep them waiting," she said before leading him forward.

They ran the gamut of well-wishers, handshakes, and back-slaps. Everyone in the church, including Morgan and Jess, were wearing neat, but casual clothing. Neither of them wanted this to be a stuffy, formal affair and told everyone there was no dress code. Adelaide freaked out about this, as she had already picked out approximately fifteen dresses for Jess and thirty suits for Morgan. Adelaide tried her best but was unable to convince Jess to get into a flowery wedding dress.

When Morgan and Jess reached the front of the church, right before the alter, they were assaulted by their close friends and family who had gathered to see them.

Mary, apparently already overcome by emotion, ran up to Morgan and hugged him, muttering something through tears as she did so. Meanwhile, Grace kept her cool and walked up to gently hug Jess.

"You good, Jess?" she asked her.

Jess nodded.

"I'm great. Ready to do this."

Grace smirked.

"It's about damn time."

Dutch walked up to Jess and Grace stepped aside to let him talk to his niece.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said as they embraced.

"Hey," Jess said.

"You feelin' okay?"

She laughed.

"Yeah. I'm feeling great."

"God…" Dutch muttered as they broke apart.

"What?" she asked.

"I just… I'm just so glad this is happening."

He turned to Morgan and firmly grasped his shoulder.

"I'm happy it's you too, Morgan. There's no one else she was meant for."

Morgan nodded firmly.

"I appreciate that, Dutch. I appreciate you accepting me as being a part of your life."

The older man chuckled.

"Don't have much of a choice, kid."

Patting Morgan on the shoulder once more, Dutch left to go retake his seat next to the sheriff and continued to talk to him. This allowed the Ryes' their turn to talk to the couple.

"Oh, my God!" Kim squeaked as she threw her arms around both Morgan and Jess.

"I can't believe this. Am I dreaming? Are my favorites getting married?" she asked.

Jess laughed.

"Well, I suppose we're all dreaming if that's what's happening."

Nick smiled as he watched his wife losing her mind.

"Damn, give them some air, Kim!" he laughed while rocking Nicole on one arm.

Morgan smiled at his friend and strode over. The two men embraced while Nicole pawed at Morgan's cheek with her little hand.

"Oh, I think Nikki wants to congratulate you," Nick said before handing his daughter to Morgan, who took her into both his arms and cradled her.

"Why, thank you, Nikki," Morgan told his goddaughter before kissing her on the top of her head. Nicole giggled in reply.

"Thanks for coming, man," Morgan said as he handed Nick back his daughter.

"Well, of course we'd come to this! What? You think I would miss you getting married? Come on."

Morgan smiled.

"Just making sure," he joked.

Adelaide suddenly appeared, interrupting them by nearly tackling Morgan with a tight hug.

"Nice to see you too!" Morgan laughed.

"Oh, honey," she managed. Like Mary, Adelaide seemed completely overwhelmed. And the main event had not even started yet.

"Thanks for coming," he said to her.

Adelaide sniffled and brushed away a tear.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

"Don't go all mushy on me now, Addie. I thought you were doubtful of marriage," Morgan remarked with a smile.

She playfully shoved him.

"Oh, well I'm doubtful of me getting married ever again, but I think this is gonna be fuckin' great. You and Jess… you two are just so good together."

"We try."

"Goddamn it, Morgan don't remind me! You two make me all… sentimental."

"I am the sentimental type."

Adelaide's lip quivered. She looked like she about to start crying.

"Oh damn. I'm gonna take a seat. Get this show on the road already!"

Adelaide promptly took a seat next to the equally emotional Mary.

Pastor Jerome Jeffries had broken out his full vestments for this occasion and stood patiently in front of the altar, waiting patiently for the couple to finish receiving their greeting from their loved ones. He caught Morgan's eye and nodded, silently asking if he was ready to begin. Morgan caught Jess's hand as Kim walked back to her seat next to Nick.

"You ready?" he asked.

Jess grinned.

"Fuck yeah, I'm ready," she said proudly.

Morgan smiled at Jeffries and nodded once. With that, the priest held up a hand, almost instantly causing quiet to wash over the church.

"If everyone is ready, maybe we can get these two married. What do you say?"

A chorus of affirmatives rang out and people filed back to their seats or spots in the assembled standing crowd.

Morgan and Jess approached the altar, stopping right before Jeffries.

"Ready?" he asked, as if there was any doubt from the both of them.

"Let's do this," Jess affirmed.

Jeffries picked up the book behind him where he had placed the script he had written.

"Friends, family, and loved ones, we are gathered here today, on this lovely day the Lord has provided, in celebration of two very special people. Two people whose story began in the darkest times many of us have ever seen. Yet, despite the challenges they and everyone in this county faced, they prevailed and proved that love can survive and thrive even when times are at their lowest."

Adelaide sniffled and dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

"And now, the worst had passed. We have survived and come out stronger than ever. What better way to celebrate how far we have come than a ceremony affirming the unbreakable bond shared by Morgan Rook and Jess Black?"

A few cheers emanated through the crowd. Jeffries gave everyone a moment to settle down.

"Now, I'm sure all of you know the two before us. Deputy Morgan Rook, the man who led us in the fight against those who wished to take everything from us. Jess Black, a peerless huntress that knows this county like no one else. Two skilled, and might I say, dangerous people I'm glad were on our side."

Laughter rang through the crowd. Morgan also chuckled. Jeffries was right- he was glad Jess was on their side.

"Now, their story is not your typical one. After all, I'm sure most of us cannot think of any other couple who met fighting against a murderous doomsday cult. But those circumstances allowed Morgan and Jess to forge a bond I'm sure none of us will fully understand. It's the kind of bond forged by soldiers under fire. The kind of bond that is tempered by hardship and comes out stronger than anything. And in the aftermath of the war we all fought and bled for, Morgan and Jess found each other. I think that really means something for us all. A man preaching hate led an army of fanatics to destroy everything we built and everything we held dear. He was defeated through the combined efforts of every soul in this county. And in the end, this man and his hate did not break us. Two people, two very different people who probably never would have crossed paths in a 'normal' life met, fell in love, and built a life together."

"Are you okay?" Kim whispered to Adelaide.

She vigorously shook her head.

"I'll… I'll be okay," she sniffled.

"And now, Morgan and Jess have chosen to commit to each other in matrimony. Not a small decision, mind you. But I know it's a decision neither of you have treated lightly. Before I go on, I believe it is important to affirm your dedication to each other and to those who have assembled today."

Jeffries turned to Morgan and smiled softly.

"Morgan, do you take Jess to be your wife? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, for as long as you both live?"

Morgan looked to the pastor and to Jess, smiling at her.

"I do," he said.

Now it was Jess's turn. She smiled in anticipation.

"Jess, do you take Morgan to be your husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, for as long as you both live?"

Jess smiled at Jeffries and turned to Morgan.

"Hell yeah I do," Jess declared.

The audience laughed and hollered in approval.

"That's the Jess I know," Dutch whispered proudly.

Jeffries laughed along and nodded.

"I'm glad to see you're into this, Jess," he said with a grin.

Jeffries cleared his throat and the audience settled down.

"Now that you two have affirmed your commitment to each other, I would like to take the time to have you read the vows you have prepared for each other. But, I would just like to remind you both that marriage is more than just a status on an official document. It is a commitment, a partnership rooted in love, faith, and trust. Please keep your vows not out of any sort of civic or religious obligation, but because you love each other. Morgan- can you please start us off?"

With all eyes in the building on him, Morgan reached into his side pocket and fished out the small slip of paper he had written his vows on. He looked up into Jess's eyes, seeing that she was eagerly awaiting what he had to say.

"Jess," Morgan began, "I promise that everything I do will be for you and the life we make together. I vow that I will be there for you no matter what, no matter what comes our way, you'll be my everything. In sickness, in health, for richer or for poorer, till death do us part and all that. I promise I will give you everything you deserve and more. And above all else, I promise you that our spark will never fade. I've loved you from the day we met- even if I didn't realize it at the time. You're the one for me and that will never change."

Jess smiled and giggled lightly at Morgan's words. He smiled back and saw that she wiped away a single tear. Several members of the audience also seemed to feel the same way.

"He's so fuckin' precious," Adelaide whispered to Mary.

Mary nodded back.

"I know. I know."

Wish there were more guys like Morgan, Mary thought to herself.

"Goddamn," Nick muttered to Kim, "did he write that?"

Kim laughed.

"I imagine he did."

"Who knew our very own Morgan would have been one for that sort of stuff?"

"He always struck me as the sweet, romantic type. I know you're not one for sentimentality, doesn't mean other guys can't be," Kim said with a teasing smirk.

Nick looked offended.

"Hey! I'm… sentimental. And stuff."

They quieted down as Jeffries spoke.

"Thank you, Morgan. Jess, would you please recite your vows for Morgan?"

Jess smiled and reached into her pocket for her own vows. Unraveling her vows, she turned to Morgan, who looked equally eager to see what she had to say to him.

"Morgan, I'll be real with you. I never thought something like this would happen. There was a time when I thought romance, love, marriage, and happily ever after was bullshit. Then, you came along. And I wasn't ready for you. You who came into my life in the middle of times that tried everyone. You who helped me move past all the things I've seen, all the things I've had to do. You who love me, made a home for me. Those are things I've barely known my entire life and you came in and gave them to me. Morgan, I vow that I will always have your back, just as you've always had mine. I promise you that I will love you just as you love me. I promise we will build our life together and give each other the life we were meant to have."

Many in the crowd were impressed and slightly taken aback by Jess's words. Few felt the huntress had any sort of… mushy words in her.

"Are we hearing this correctly?" Mary asked Adelaide.

"That is Jess up there, right?" Adelaide replied.

Mary chuckled.

"I think so. Man. Never imagined Jess Black saying something like that."

"Are you complaining, honey?" Adelaide laughed.

Mary smiled in reply.

"Nope. I think I like this side of her."

Jeffries nodded and grinned.

"Thank you, Jess. And thank you Morgan. At this point, I would like to ask Morgan to present the rings that will symbolize the bond this couple shares."

Morgan reached into his pocket for their rings, careful not to drop them. Despite offers from Nick, Sharky, and Hurk, Morgan was adamant on keeping things simple and not recruiting a best man.

"Morgan, would you please place Jess's ring on her finger?"

Morgan gently grasped Jess's left hand and lifted it up. They looked into each other's eyes briefly, both smiling.

"Hurry up, will you?" she whispered.

Morgan gently slipped her ring over her ring finger, squeezing her hand once as he finished.

"Jess, would you please place Morgan's ring on his finger?" Jeffries asked.

Jess collected Morgan's ring from his outstretched hand before holding up his left hand to slip his own ring over his ring finger. Morgan briefly glanced at the audience and saw several people recording or taking pictures of the moment on their phones or cameras. He hoped a few of them would take good enough pictures to frame.

The couple turned back to face Jeffries who smiled broadly.

"Those rings are more than just pieces of metal. They are physical symbols of your loyalty and dedication to each other. They let the world know you two are together."

He gave the people in the audience a few moments to get their photos and videos.

"Now that we have done all that, I can confidently say- by the power vested to me by the state of Montana, I now declare you husband and wife! You may seal this declaration with a kiss!" Jeffries proclaimed, which caused the audience to begin hollering in congratulations and applaud.

Morgan leaned forward to kiss Jess, but she was faster. Jess threw her arms around his neck and planted a deep kiss on his lips. Morgan wrapped his own arms around her and returned her kiss, probably longer than was the usual for a wedding. It did not matter though. The spectators applauded and shouted in approval.

"I am pleased to present to you Morgan and Jess Rook!" Jeffries announced, causing the cheers to swell further.

Finally breaking apart, Morgan and Jess joined hands and turned to walk out of the church. They received a standing ovation from all the people in the church, hearing many words of congratulations as they walked down the aisle.

"This ceremony is over," Jeffries spoke over the din, "now let's eat!"

* * *

 

What Morgan and Jess did allow was for their friends to organize and throw them a reception. Mary set up various long tables around the Spread Eagle and nearby greenery and provided a large portion of the food, while others stayed true to the instructions on the invitations and bought various dishes from home. Nick placed himself in charge of the grilling and worked together with several others to make sure a steady stream of steak, porkchops, lambchops, and other kinds of meat were available to whoever wanted any. Hurk wrangled up large amounts of alcohol suitable for every taste.

Of course, people bought gifts. Morgan and Jess told people they did not have to bring gifts, but plenty of people did. They were being piled high on a nearby table.

Morgan and Jess sat together at the head table, together with all their close friends and family. They surveyed all the people gathered around for their wedding. The sheer size of the crowd still surprised them.

Morgan watched as some people tossed Cheeseburger fresh salmon, reminding him that Boomer was underneath the table, munching on a steak. Peaches was mingling with the various tables, receiving pets and treats from those sitting before moving on. He was just so happy to see, well, so many people happy. He took a moment to reflect on the tumultuous past year everyone had had. Jeffries was right. The cult tried to destroy them, but now they were gone and the people of Hope County triumphed. And now, they were celebrating the first wedding in a long time.

It was good.

This was good.

The day wore on and people continued to come and go, spending the next few hours drinking, eating, talking, dancing, and listening to music. Eventually, the sun began to dip, which was not a problem as they just bought out spotlights, string lights, and started a few bonfires. Jess and Morgan went up a few times to dance together, probably very poorly, but it was a great time nonetheless.

At one point, after the sun had dipped over the horizon, Dutch stood up from his place at the head table and raised a glance of champagne.

"Hey everyone," he said loudly over everyone's conversations and the music, which was paused.

"I was just hoping I could have a toast. A toast to my niece and her new husband. I would wish 'em good luck, but based on what I've heard, they don't need luck."

The crowd laughed as everyone raised their glasses.

"Amen to that!" Hurk called to Dutch's left.

"To Morgan and Jess!" Dutch said.

"To Morgan and Jess!" everyone called back.

"We're popular," Jess whispered to Morgan, who was looking down at the table, grinning sheepishly.

"Seems like it."

Jess thoughtfully stared out at the various people in attendance.

"I'm still in shock," she said.

"About what?"

"That this is my wedding. And all these people showed up and just the fact I'm fuckin' married!"

"Are you complaining? I still have the receipt for these rings…" Morgan started with a smirk.

She lightly punched him in the shoulder.

"Oh, shut up. Of course not. Remember how I said earlier I couldn't believe this happened? I wasn't lying. Tell the Jess that was around when the cult came in that she would be married in a year's time and she would've laughed in your fucking face."

She reached over, grasping his hand softly.

"I'm so glad I met you. You've taught me what life is supposed to be like. Back then, I didn't care about anything else except just making it through another day."

Morgan smiled at his wife.

"I never expected any of this either. But then again- I always imagined the one person I needed the most would come into my life when I least expected it."

She drew him in for a tender kiss.

"I've learned that life is more than just survival, babe."

Their kiss caused many onlookers to cheer and clap. They both smiled at them and back at each other.

* * *

 

It was near midnight when most everyone finally hauled themselves back home and everything was cleaned up. Morgan and Jess had spent a very long day talking to their guests and generally being the center of attention, something neither person was particularly fond of.

They walked the short distance back home, hearing the final goodbyes and well-wishes from their guests. At the front door, Morgan pushed it open and was about to step in when he paused. He turned to look at Jess.

"What?" she asked.

Morgan smiled and scooped Jess off her feet and carried her in his arms. She giggled madly as she adjusted herself in his arms and wrapped her own arms around his neck to support herself.

"God, you're so old fashioned!" she laughed as Morgan carried her across the threshold.

"I can't help myself!" Morgan said as he lowered her onto her feet.

Jess turned and threw her arms around him, kissing him.

"Bed. Now," she commanded after they finished making out. Jess took him by the hand and led Morgan to their bedroom.

"Are you sure you're up for it?" Morgan asked.

Jess smirked over her shoulder at him.

"Of course I'm up for it. Besides. It's our wedding night- we gotta fuck. You're so into tradition, right?"

Morgan smiled back.

"Hey, I prefer the term 'make love.' Saying we just 'fuck' makes it sound so crude."

Jess snorted.

"Whatever. Just come here."

* * *

 

They had done this plenty of times, but Jess was always impressed by Morgan. Yes, this was _definitely_ the best sex she had ever had. By now, he knew every inch of her skin, everything she liked and everything she wanted.

His hands were downright holy. That's the only way she could describe how he moved his fingers across her skin, dancing down her body and leaving a pleasing heat wherever they went. Morgan just knew exactly what to do. She turned to putty in his hands and just wanted to melt in his arms.

Morgan loved every inch of her. He thought she was the most beautiful person in the whole world. Despite all the scars that lined her body, he thought she was perfect. Jess was never particularly insecure about her scars, but that was before she met Morgan and before they started their relationship. She remembered that the first few times they made love, she almost subconsciously tried to hide her scars from view. But, Morgan did not care. Not one bit. He even told her it enhanced her looks. Made her stand out and made her look like the total badass she was.

A part of what this all so great was because Jess knew this was more than just a fling, more than just the meaningless one-night-stands she had had over the years. She loved Morgan with everything she had and she knew he loved her too. He would not disappear, not slip away. And he was just so sweet, so gentle. So unlike every man she had ever known. It was not just about feeling good, it was about being together with the person she loved more than anything. To have a lover that genuinely adored her meant everything. She was craving that companionship and did not even realize it until she realized she loved Morgan.

God.

Maybe I am a secret romantic, Jess thought to herself later that night as Morgan lay next to her. She idly worked her hand through his already messy hair. His eyes were closed and resting on her shoulder.

"I can get used to this," she said to him softly.

Morgan smiled and opened his eyes.

"I hope so. We'll be doing it often."

She smirked knowingly.

"Good. We better."

"Of course. I wouldn't miss that for the world."

Jess snuggled close to him, pulling into his warm frame.

"I can't believe we're married," she commented.

He laughed.

"You keep saying that!"

"I know! It's because I just can't believe it."

"Are you happy?"

"Fuck yeah, I'm happy as hell!" she cried. "I am so in love with you."

"And I'm in love with you too," Morgan declared.

"Glad we're on the same page, babe."

He smiled and put an arm around her waist and pulled her a bit closer.

"You should sleep," he said, "we got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

* * *

 

The next day, Morgan and Jess woke bright and early. They had packed up everything they needed already and were ready to go on their honeymoon. It would be something perfect for both of them- a road trip across the western United States. Just the two of them for a month. Despite Jess's constant negative opinions regarding driving long distances, she very much looked forward to this.

They packed their things in the back of Morgan's truck and met with a few of their friends who were coming to see them off.

"Take care of it, Mary," Morgan said, handing her the keys to the house and to Morgan's Firebird.

"Can I take it out for a spin sometime? You know, to keep the oil flowing?" Mary smirked.

Morgan exhaled.

"Well… maybe. Uh, just don't break it. Please?"

"You can trust me, Morgan," Mary assuaged as she hugged him.

"We're gonna miss you, man. Take lots of pictures," Nick said to Morgan as they embraced once Mary stepped back.

"You too, Jess! You gotta hang some pictures on your wall," Kim said.

"I'll try!" Jess replied as Kim hugged her.

"Don't get lost, son," Whitehorse warned as he walked past, on his way to start his patrol.

"I won't, sheriff!" Morgan called back.

"Well… I guess we'll let you guys go, huh?" Mary said.

Nick and Kim nodded.

"Yeah. You guys have fun, okay? Let us know how everything goes, update us, whatever," Kim told them.

"We'll be sure to," Jess said as she and Morgan climbed into the cab of his truck. They said their final goodbyes to their friends and sped off down Main Street out of Hope County.

* * *

 

This was exactly like Jess dreamed.

Her and Morgan, together on a deserted highway, tearing down the empty roads with the sun on her face and the wind in her hair. As they headed out of Montana to Wyoming to visit Yellowstone National Park, Jess and Morgan sung along to the radio, talked, laughed, and joked. So far away were the days of pain and pure survival. Now, their lives together were beginning. A new chapter for the huntress and the deputy.

The day out was perfect, so appropriately perfect. Jess looked out at the forest beyond the highway and the mountains beyond that. She smiled, knowing that this was the first day of her new life. The life she would build with Morgan. Whatever happened next, she would be happy because she would be with him. No matter what happened, they would face it together, as they had grown accustomed to and as it was meant to be.

Morgan tried to keep his eyes on the road but could not resist looking over at his beautiful wife. He was just so indescribably happy in the moment. He did not want this drive to end. Heaven was on Earth. On Earth with Jess by his side.

Together, happy, safe, and loved, Morgan and Jess flew down the interstate towards the horizon, towards the first day of the life both of them were meant to live.


	13. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are, at the end! Two epilogues, as promised. This one is how I personally see the story ending, the other is the one that more than a few of you have wanted. Pick whichever you feel is the better ending!
> 
> I want to thank each and every one of you for your follows, favorites, reviews, and continued support during this story. I never could have predicted the reaction I'd get from this.
> 
> What's next? Well, there are more stories to be told from Hope County, so stay tuned.
> 
> Once again, you can find me on Tumblr at hope-countys-finest (https://hope-countys-finest.tumblr.com). I'll be posting Morgan/Jess one-shots that come to mind, as well as taking requests for one-shots. If you have anything you'd like to see written, do make a request!
> 
> Otherwise, enjoy as always.

10 Perseverance Lane was an instantly recognizable two-story home. A long driveway flanked by trees led to a reasonably large, but not overly ostentatious home that looked like a classic forest lodge mixed with tasteful, elegant modern styling. Two cars were parked out front- a Ford F-150 Raptor with custom detailing work and a cherry red 1975 Pontiac Firebird, a vehicle many in Hope County had come to recognize.

This was the home of Morgan and Jess Rook.

The couple had lived here for the past two years, after a steady stream of lucrative government contracts sent Jess’s way found Morgan and Jess’s bank account with more zeros at the end than either of them ever expected it to have.

The house was custom built on the border of the Holland Valley, right near the foothills of the Whitetail Mountains, based exactly on the specifications Morgan made, along with more than a few of Jess’s suggestions. It was somewhat isolated, but still a short enough drive away from Fall’s End. The final product had a two-car garage, solar panels on the roof, a master bedroom with a king-sized bed and wonderful views of the Whitetails and endless forests outside the large windows, a guest bedroom, comfortable den with a large TV for Morgan to play his games or for them to watch movies, a spacious study for Morgan to work on police work or mess around on the gaming PC Jess bought him for his birthday last year, a room dedicated to holding Morgan’s guns and Jess’s hunting equipment with space to tinker with things, and a master bathroom with an exceptionally large shower and bathtub.

It was the home Morgan wanted and one Jess did not realize she wanted. Most of all, it was the home where both of them deserved. A place where they could build their life together.

The cozy, welcoming interior was littered with signs of them doing just that. Many pictures lined the walls and mantle of the dark marble fireplace. There were a few pictures of Morgan and Jess on their wedding day, mostly amateur shots taken by their friends that came out quite well for shots by people armed with smartphones or entry level cameras.

There was a shot of Jess and Morgan in front of Old Faithful geyser down in Yellowstone. It was part of a series of similar shots that chronicled their honeymoon. Next to it was Jess and Morgan standing proudly together in full hunting gear, Morgan with a scoped rifle and Jess with a bow, taken during a hunting expedition in Wyoming. Another one showed Jess and Morgan sitting in a tent together, down in Arizona underneath a starry sky. Next to that one was a weary, but still smiling, Jess and Morgan together with their backs to a canyon during their backpacking tour of the Sierra Nevada mountains. And finally, there was a single one of Jess staring out at the sunset on the Pacific coast in central California. Morgan took that one and thought it was just so fantastic.

Of course, there were plenty of other shots chronicling what had occurred during the short, but eventful five years they had been together. Morgan and Jess posed with Nicole Rye in several shots, who seemed to be getting bigger with each passing shot. Her parents were not neglected either. Jess and Kim posed for one shot, taken while Jess was teaching Kim bow hunting. Morgan and Nick sat together on his porch in another, each holding a beer and laughing at some assumedly hysterical joke. A particular favorite of Morgan’s was both couples together, standing together outside of Morgan and Jess’s home when it was newly built.

There were plenty of others too, showcasing just a fraction of the experiences they had enjoyed with their friends and allies over the years. Morgan posed with Sharky and Hurk at the 8-Bit Pizza Bar. Jess and Grace smiled together on an outdoor shooting range, Jess holding her bow and Grace with her signature AR-10. Grace also appeared in a group photo of the Hope County Sheriff’s Department, which was next to a photo of Morgan and Mary candidly talking at the Spread Eagle. Adelaide appeared in a photo with Morgan, where she was giving two thumbs up at the camera in front of “Tulip II,” an Agusta AW109SP helicopter that was much larger and much fancier than Tulip I.  

The centerpiece of the mantle were a few pictures of Morgan in full dress uniform receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award he received three years after the war against Eden’s Gate for his “meritorious defense of United States citizens against hostile forces wishing to destroy liberty and security.”

Ask Morgan what he thought, however, and he would tell you he was not deserving of any such award. As usual.

There were a series of photos showing Morgan receiving his medal from the President of the United States, posing with the President, and one that showed Morgan with his arm around Jess who was looking supremely uncomfortable and out of her element in a dress, but smiling anyway. The medal itself was sitting inside of a little glass case on the mantle.

The many photos that lined the shelves and walls of the Rook household were vignettes of the life after the cult, after the war, after everyone had rebuilt their lives and came back stronger than ever.

Morgan was sitting alone in the den, Boomer at his side. The loyal Blue Heeler was a little older now, but that had hardly slowed him down. He looked up from his phone, sighing at the text message he had received from Grace. Sheriff Whitehorse would be taking the day off again tomorrow. The sheriff’s health was taking a decline- that was a fact everyone would soon have to face. He had recently returned from the hospital after suffering a heart attack and was insistent on returning to work. However, the past few weeks had been rough on the sheriff and he was forced to take a few days off here and there. He did not want to entertain the possibility, but many were saying that Whitehorse had to retire soon. That would mean a new sheriff would have to be elected.

Of course, Morgan was a favorite for that position, although Morgan felt Hudson or Grace would be more suited for the position. No one would hear him though and most of his friends were already organizing his campaign for the sheriff’s office.

Sheriff Rook. It had a nice ring to it, he had to admit.

Tossing his phone back on the black sofa, Morgan got up. Boomer lifted his head up before jumping up to join his master. Smiling as Boomer trotted next to him, Morgan went over to the mantle, where there were a few pictures of Jess during the many classes she had held as part of Jess Black’s Survival School.

After she got married to Morgan, she was ready to change the name to Jess Rook’s Survival School, but Morgan was insistent on leaving the name alone. Most people knew her as Jess Black. It would be good to keep that identity.

There were group photos of Jess with her students from several different classes, from the modest group that was part of her first class in the Whitetails all the way to her most recent class, which had Jess posing with her three assistant instructors and thirty-five students atop the peak of Mount Elbert in Colorado. Morgan’s favorite was one that had her posing with ten U.S. Navy SEALs, Jess’s first government contract that was sent her way after the success of her classes. Morgan remembered when she was hired to be a part of a survival, evasion, resistance, and escape course held over a week out in Missouri. Morgan remembered how the shaggy, well-built war fighters underestimated the petite, but fiery young woman who was instructing them. Two days in, Jess was yelling at them to keep up.

The photo she took with the SEALs showed them all grinning as broadly as operators allowed themselves, a sign that Jess had indeed earned their respect through and through. After that successful course, the government just kept throwing Jess more and more work, which lead to them living in the house they were right now. Morgan joked that his taxes were indeed paying off.

There was also a framed copy of  _ OffGrid _ , a survivalist magazine. On the cover was Jess, posing in an appropriately dramatic fashion with a bow. The cover headline read  _ Jess Rook, the Master Huntress. _ The cover’s subtitle read  _ Jess Rook talks cultist hunting, insurgent tactics, and love life in a war zone _ .

Looking at Jess’s old photos reminded Morgan how much he missed his wife. She was down in the Amazon rainforest, teaching a two-week long jungle survival course. It was the second one she was doing that month, filled by people who were waitlisted for the first course. Most people would be concerned that their wife was running around in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. Morgan was more worried about the various endangered animals Jess might decide to take down.

Shaking his head, Morgan turned away, trying to push the thoughts of missing Jess out of his head. He went back to the nearby coffee table, picking up his phone and a copy of the newspaper sitting there.

“Come on, bud,” Morgan said to Boomer, who wagged his tail and followed Morgan out through the sliding door to the balcony. Morgan settled down in his padded chair outside and took a moment to just appreciate the wonderful view. This location was a bit pricey… but so worth it. The sun was setting, painting the Whitetail Mountains in early evening shadows and turning the sky a multitude of brilliant colors.

Morgan unfolded his newspaper and reread the headline he had read several times over that day already.

_ Joseph Seed Dead- Ex-Cult Leader Hangs Self in Cell. _

He could not contain a chuckle when he read the headline that time around. Guess God did not have a plan for the prophet after all. Or maybe this was the plan the whole time.

Morgan had already read the article multiple times. But he just wanted to read it again. He could only think-  _ We’ve won. For sure this time _ .

Seed was gone. Morgan and Jess Rook, along with everyone else, remained. Hope County remained. The world remained. There was no Collapse. The prophesied end never came. Morgan thought it was such a waste so many people died based on the words of a madman.

It was things like this that made Morgan reflect on the war that had happened what felt like so far in the past. The memories of things he had done and the things he had seen occasionally afflicted him, just as the memories Jess held sometimes afflicted her late at night.

But they had each other. And all the shit that crept in the dark recesses of their minds were just memories- nothing that could hurt them. And because they had each other, they could both move past the war, past Eden’s Gate, past everything else that had occurred in their lives and look forward to their future together.

But, the memories were not all bad. Morgan sometimes liked to reflect on the good ones. It was funny to say, but some of the best times of his life were fighting the war against Eden’s Gate. It allowed him to meet and become close friends with people he otherwise never would have interacted with. These people were much more than friends- they were his family.

And of course, he met Jess. The love of his life. His favorite person on Earth. Simply the most amazing woman he ever met. 

Guess he had to thank Joseph and the rest of his fanatics for that, at least.

He still thought it was amazing that it took the greatest fight of his entire life to meet the woman he would spend the rest of his life with. But, in the end, that fight had been a fleeting portion of his life. Now he had nothing but a good, happy, stable life to look forward to with Jess. 

Morgan set down his newspaper and sighed deeply before leaning back in the chair. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the early evening air. He sat this way for several minutes, enough to lose track of everything else happening around him. At one point, he began to drift off to sleep.

A hand clamped itself over his mouth. 

Morgan’s eyes shot open. He pulled forward and tried to call out, but an arm wrapped around his neck. Panic began to take over. He was caught, unarmed and totally unprepared. Morgan struggled against an unknown adversary. 

_ How did they get in? And why isn’t Boomer doing anything? _ he wondered. 

His attacker leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. A familiar voice spoke into his ear.

“Hey, babe,” Jess whispered.

Morgan stopped moving and smiled against her hand, which was still covering his mouth. He eyeballed Boomer and saw his dog was standing up and wagging his tail excitedly at his mother returning. 

Jess released Morgan and rounded the chair and sat down on his lap. 

“You’re home early,” he observed with a broad smile on his face.

She chuckled and pressed her lips to his. Morgan leaned into her, wrapping his arms around her back while she reciprocated by caressing his cheeks. 

“Are you complaining?” she asked with a mischievous grin.    

“Hell, no.” 

Jess adjusted herself, leaning down so she could lay her head down on Morgan’s shoulder. Morgan shifted his body over to give her a bit more room. 

“This was a good group of people. Not completely useless,” Jess began as she wrapped her arms around him and snuggled closer, “we made really great time. Got done earlier than I expected.” 

“Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve picked you up from the airport!”

Jess smirked. 

“I wanted to surprise you.” 

“You certainly did. I thought I was gonna fuckin’ die.” 

She giggled.

“Glad I got the blood flowing. You looked like you were about to doze off, too.” 

“Well, I’m glad I’m awake for this.” 

“I’m glad you are too. I missed you.” 

Morgan worked his hands through her hair and played with a lock of it.

“I missed you too. You know I always miss you when you’re out doing your thing.” 

“I’m sorry I have to travel so much. I’d try to stay around here, but, shit, everyone wants me to go all over the fucking planet instead,” Jess said, apologetically.

“Hey, don’t be sorry. Don’t worry. I know this is what you want to do and I want you to keep doing it. Plus, it’s why we were able to afford this place.” 

Jess smiled up at him. 

“That’s true.” 

“But I’m always happy when you come back home to me.” 

He looked over at Jess, who looked up at him. Morgan met her eyes, the familiar brilliant blue. 

“I’m happy I have you,” she whispered, “and I’m happy I finally have a place I can call a home.” 

They gently brought their lips together for a gentle kiss. 

“Home is wherever you are, Jess,” he said softly. 

Jess giggled and flushed with color. Five years together… and he could still do that to her. 

“God, you…” she started with a smile on her face.

“What?” Morgan asked, also grinning. 

“I… I just love you,” Jess managed to say. 

“I love you too,” Morgan spoke quietly as they lay together, watching the sun dip below the mountains. 

The huntress and the deputy held each other tightly, safe and comfortable in each other’s company as they would be for many more years. Both of them knew this was how life was meant to be, how each day was meant to be. 

It took a war, a struggle for survival to bring together two people who were meant for each other. They found each other during a dark time and they survived, just as all of Hope County survived in the end. 

No matter what happened now, they had each other. Anything that happened that next, it would all be okay, as long as Morgan had Jess by his side and Jess had Morgan by her side. 

And so, they sat together for a while, holding each other while the sun set. It was just an absolutely perfect evening. 

Morgan and Jess Rook would watch a lot of sunsets together. 


	14. Epilogue- Another Time and Another Place

The young woman blinked at the image of herself in the mirror. With a displeased scoff, she picked up her tube of foundation and gently began to apply it to her left cheek. After a minute, she stowed her makeup to look herself over in the mirror and noticed a figure leaning against the doorframe to her room. She jumped at the sudden appearance of the figure but relaxed. It was her mom. The young woman had not heard her coming.

Of course she didn't.

"Hey, mom," 17-year-old Cassie Rook said to the image of her mother in the mirror.

Jess Rook crossed her arms and grinned at her daughter.

"Lookin' hot," she said.

Cassie groaned and shook her head.

"Yeah. Sure," she dismissed as she scrutinized her eye makeup closer.

Jess crossed the length of the room to her daughter.

"Stop worrying!" she told her.

"I can't!" she whined.

"You look amazing. Seriously. You're thinking too hard about this. Go and get your shoes on before your boyfriend gets here."

Cassie frowned.

"He's… he's not my boyfriend!" she protested.

Jess grinned over her shoulder as she exited.

"Maybe not yet."

Cassie just sighed and got up from her seat, smoothing out the skirt of her white prom dress.

She carefully walked out of her room and out to the living room, where her brother and parents had convened.

It was prom season in Hope County, and the high school seniors of the county were gearing up for what they all hoped would be a night to remember. Many had been looking forward to this night, but when the date rolled around, many like Cassie were stressing out quite severely over it.

"Oh, look who decided to join us!" her dad said.

Sheriff Morgan Rook smiled at his daughter, who grinned weakly in reply.

Cassie shot a look at her brother, who seemed to be one of the few not going crazy in the moment.

Jack Rook was lacing up his shiny black shoes and looked up at Cassie.

"You figure it out yet, Cass?" he asked, grinning.

"Oh, shut up."

"Be nice. You're all in this together," Morgan said.

They both grumbled. Morgan looked over at Jess, who smiled back at him.

Although both of them might have been initially hesitant about this, both of them certainly felt that having children was indeed the right decision.

Cassie Rook was growing up to be a gorgeous young woman, with a head of long, flowing red hair and green eyes inherited from Morgan. Neither of her parents knew where the red hair came from, though. Something about genetics neither of them really understood. Either way, Cassie had also come to inherit a bit of her mother's personality- for better or for worse.

As Jack Rook grew, comparisons to his father became more common. He really was something of a spitting image of teenage Morgan, with his father's thick black hair but paired with his mother's teal eyes. He was certainly a bit more outgoing that Morgan at the same age, but like his father, was mindful of others and would generally be described as "a nice young man." He stayed out of more trouble than most teens did, just like his sister.

This was in part to the home they had been raised in. Being the children of the legendary master huntress and the hero of Hope County was quite a role to fill. Morgan and Jess were both determined to raise them right and make sure they grew into good people. Jess especially so, since she did not want to see her son and daughter go down the path she went when she was their age.

They were firm, but fair. At times Cassie and Jack resented them preventing any sort of stupid teenager behavior, but it would be worth it. The Rook kids were growing to be intelligent, kind, respectful, and responsible young adults. Jess had been determined to give her children the things she had never known growing up- a safe, loving, and stable home. With Morgan's help, she succeeded.

As for their parents, Morgan and Jess were both keeping busy in their mid 40s. Jess was still running her Survival School, but handed off most of the numerous classes it ran to the various instructors she had hired, all of whom she had personally vetted. She still taught several special classes herself, though. In fact, a week from today, she would be heading up to Alaska to teach twenty people how to survive in the Alaskan interior following a simulated plane crash.

Physically, Jess was starting to show her age. Her scars had mostly faded, but were still evident enough to stand out in the crowd. A few streaks of grey could be found through her hair. Despite all this, the brilliance of those teal eyes had not faded and Morgan told her she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes upon.

Jess liked to say that Morgan was aging like "fine wine." He was 45 now, but being a little older had hardly slowed him down. Jess liked the strands of silver that streaked through his dark hair now. Made him look wiser, she said. Morgan had to agree, although he hoped it was not an "older  _and_  wiser" look.

He had been Hope County's sheriff for about twelve years now after being elected in a landslide vote following Whitehorse's retirement five years after the war with Eden's Gate. Although the power his station afforded him initially took some getting used to, everyone would say Morgan carried out his job effectively and fairly.

Cassie was reexamining herself in a nearby mirror.

"I guess it'll have to do," she mumbled, turning her head to examine her cheeks.

"It'll do more than just do, baby. You look wonderful," Morgan assured her.

"You're just saying that," she replied.

"No, I'm not. If you didn't look good, I'd tell you."

Jack chuckled.

Cassie ignored him and smoothed out the folds of her dress.

"I don't look all… frumpy, do I?" she asked her family.

"I don't think you'd like my answer," her brother said.

"I wasn't asking you!"

Jess smiled.

"You look great. You're worrying too much."

"Am I?" Cassie sighed.

"Yeah," Jess said.

Cassie looked back in the mirror once and smiled at her reflection.

"Well, maybe I am."

A flash of grey fur came trotting out of the dining room and ended up at Cassie's feet, where it jumped up onto her thighs.

"Gus!" Cassie cried, laughing as she tried to get away from Augustus, their excitable one-month-old Blue Heeler puppy.

"Aw, he's just excited!" Morgan said as he walked over and picked up Augustus, who was wagging his tail furiously and licking Morgan's face.

"Yeah, excited to get hair all over my freaking dress," Cassie complained as she brushed away stray dog hair.

Morgan gently placed down Augustus, who ran over to Jack and received some pets for his efforts.

The doorbell rang, causing everyone to look in the direction of the door.

"Oh," Cassie said excitedly, "that must be him!"

She turned and jogged off to her room.

"I forgot my earrings- someone let him in!" she called over her shoulder.

"I got it," Morgan said.

Morgan walked over to the door and slowly opened it.

A dirty blonde teenage boy stood on the doormat, fiddling with a bouquet of multicolored flowers. He looked up to see the sheriff staring back at him. The boy's eyes widened.

It was Ezra Weston, son of Mary May Fairgrave-Weston.

"Oh, uh, hi, sheriff… I'm uh, here for, uh, Cassie, to you know, drive her… to the… thing…" Ezra managed to stammer out.

Morgan frowned severely.

"Who said you could take my daughter to the prom?" he asked in an interrogatory tone.

Ezra looked like he was about to faint.

"I, well…"

Cassie jogged out to the door, securing her last earring.

"Dad! Stop scaring him!" she chided.

Morgan dropped his displeased expression and smiled at Ezra.

"I'm kidding, Ezra. Come on in."

Ezra chuckled nervously and walked inside as Morgan stood aside to let him in. In truth, Morgan was fond of Mary's son. He had allowed Cassie to go with him to her prom because he knew Ezra was a good kid.

"Hey!" Cassie said to Ezra as she embraced him.

"Hey, Cass. I got you flowers," he said before handing her the bouquet.

Cassie grinned and gladly accepted his gift.

"You're the best. Mom!"

"I'll get a vase," Jess said before walking over to the kitchen.

"What's up, brother?" Jack greeted Ezra before extended his fist to give him a fist bump.

"I'm pretty good. You ready for this?" Ezra replied.

"Oh, yeah. Should be good!"

"You get here okay?" Morgan asked Ezra while Cassie sat on the sofa to pull on her shoes.

Ezra nodded.

"Yes, sir. The driveway was a kinda hidden, but I managed."

"Knew you'd figure it out," Cassie said before standing up.

"Okay, Ez. I'm ready when you are."

"Wait! I didn't even say hi to him!" Jess said, emerging from the kitchen.

"Oh, sorry, Mrs. Rook!" Ezra apologized.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm glad you got here okay," Jess responded, pulling Ezra into a quick hug.

"Okay, we won't keep you any longer. Get going guys," Morgan told his daughter and her date.

Cassie pulled Ezra's arm.

"Let's go!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going!"

"Later, Ezra, later Cass!" Morgan said.

"Cass," Jess called, "go show those basic bitches who's in charge!"

"What your mother is trying to say is 'have fun,'" Morgan said.

"I will!"

"Remember- no curfew, enjoy yourself, but don't be stupid. Okay?" Morgan reminded his daughter.

"Yeah, dad, I know. Don't worry," she reassured him.

Morgan smiled. He knew he could trust his daughter.

"Alright. Have fun."

"Bye!" Cassie said one last time.

"Alright, bro, I'll see you there!" Ezra called to Jack.

"You bet, man."

Cassie closed the door behind her and was on her way.

"Alright, well that's one of you out of here," Morgan commented.

Jack stood up and put on his suit jacket.

"I'll be out of here soon."

"Is Nikki ready?" Morgan asked.

"She should be when I get there."

"Now, you know what we're gonna say, right?" Jess spoke up.

Jack sighed and grinned slightly.

"I can probably figure that out."

"Don't be stupid. You know what we mean," Morgan told him.

"Yeah, dad, I know. Please, don't worry."

"We're not worrying. We know you'll be good. I just like to keep it in your mind."

Jack nodded.

"Yeah, I know… because Nick will kill you, right?"

Morgan chuckled.

"Oh, I'm not afraid of Nick. It's Kim that scares me."

Jack laughed.

"I figured."

Morgan nodded once.

"Well, I know you'll do the right thing. Get on out of here."

"I guess I'll take the Volkswagen," Jack started, referencing the family sedan Morgan and Jess were having their kids share for now as part of teaching them responsibility.

"Actually…" Morgan began before retrieving the keys to his Firebird. He lightly tossed the keys to Jack, who was so stunned at this turn of events he barely managed to catch them.

"Wait… really?" his son asked, somewhat incredulously.

Morgan grinned and nodded.

"Yes, really. Now get going before I come to my senses."

Jack laughed in disbelief once and walked over to hug his parents.

"Have fun, Jack," Morgan told him.

"Bye, sweetie," Jess said.

"I'll be good. Promise."

"We know. Just don't do anything I wouldn't do," Morgan advised.

Jack smiled one last time, said his final goodbyes, and headed out the door. A few moments later, Morgan and Jess heard the sound of a V8 engine roaring to life.

"Well," Jess began as the sound of the engine receded into the distance, "they're out. What do you want to do now?"

Morgan shrugged.

"Wanna watch a movie or something?"

Jess rounded around him and draped her arms around his neck. Morgan grinned as she planted a soft kiss on his lips.

"I think I have a few ideas of what to do tonight," she said in a tone that left little to suggestion.

"You know, I think I'll take you up on that. First… come watch the sunset with me."

Jess laughed.

"Oh, ain't you still the romantic?"

"You know me, babe."

Morgan took her by the hand and led her through the backdoor to the balcony. Together, they settled in a lounge chair just big enough to fit them both. Jess sighed gently and lay her head on his shoulder.

"This is nice," she said.

"The sunset? Yeah, it's really nice out tonight."

"No," Jess said with a shake of her head, "I'm talking about… all this. You. Us. The kids. Everything."

Morgan smiled and kissed her on the top of her head.

"It is."

"I love you, you know," Jess said.

Morgan looked down at her. She was grinning.

"Well, I'm still so in love with you. That's not gonna change. Ever," Morgan resolutely said.

Jess snuggled against him, more than happy with what she had now.

And so- the two of them watched the sun set, as they had for years now and would for many more.


End file.
